SWAT KATS TO ARMS!
by Kim Dreamcatcher
Summary: 5TH IN SERIES: Ronin Warrior crossover: While pursuing Dr. Viper, the Swat Kats come across some unusual creatures in mystic armor.
1. Author's Note

SWAT KATS TO ARMS! (a.k.a. Ronin Warriors: The Radical Squadron)

Author's Note

**For those who don't know about the Ronin Warriors:**

I have a lot of explaining to do before you start reading this fanfic. First of all, there's the significance of the title. If you ever watched Ronin Warriors when it was playing on Cartoon Network or the Sci-Fi Channel, a common expression used by the Ronin Warriors was "Ronin Warriors to arms!" I also combined the title of the Swat Kat show with the Ronin Warriors, in case you haven't noticed. I honestly couldn't decide which title to use, so I decided to use both. Second, this fic was inspired by a challenge I saw on one of my online Ronin Warrior clubs. One of the members (I don't remember who it was exactly) posted a list of Ronin Warrior crossovers that she thought would never work, and one of them happened to be a Swat Kat crossover. Well, if whoever wrote that list is reading this, thanks for giving me the idea.

Anyway, you probably want to learn a bit about the Ronin Warriors before you start reading this fic. Ronin Warriors is a Japanese anime show focused on five young warriors with mystical armor destined to save the world from a powerful demon known as Talpa and his Evil Dynasty. Here's a list of the characters from the show that will be included in my fic:

RYO

Ryo is the leader of the Ronin Warriors. He wears the armor of Wildfire, which reacts to fire and heat. Ryo tends to be a little hotheaded and impatient, but he also cares a lot for his friends.

SAGE

Sage is the levelheaded one of the group. He wears the armor of Halo, which reacts to electricity and light. Sage usually prefers to meditate on difficult decisions, and tends to be sarcastic at times.

CYE

Cye is the shy and calm member of the group. He wears the armor of Torrent, which reacts to water. Cye is best friends with Kento, and although he is normally soft-spoken, he speaks his mind when it comes to Kento's actions.

KENTO

Kento is the strongest member of the group. He wears the armor of Hardrock, which reacts to earth. Kento is an all-action kind of guy. He tends to act now and think later, which results in a lot of criticism from his best friend, Cye.

ROWEN

Rowen is the brains of the group. He wears the armor of Strata, which reacts to space and air. Rowen is the one who would normally suggest putting together a plan before doing anything.

TALPA

Talpa is an evil demon from the Nether World who plans on taking over the mortal world with his army of Nether Spirits, Dynasty Soldiers, and his four Dark Warlords. He tried to take over the world before over a thousand years ago, but the Ancient defeated him and his spirit was exiled back to the Nether World. Talpa's massive armor couldn't be destroyed, so the Ancient used it to form nine mystical armors: the armors of the Ronin Warriors and the Dark Warlords.

MIA COJI

Mia is a young woman who taught Japanese mythology at the local university. She was familiar with the legend of the Ronin Warriors and helped them learn how their armors' powers work. Mia worked with her grandfather, Dr. Coji, who had done extensive research on the Ronin Warriors' armor, until his life was taken by the Dynasty.

YULI

Yuli is a little boy who got separated from his parents when the Dynasty took over the city of Toyama. He and Mia are protected by the Ronin Warriors as they try to find a way to defeat Talpa once and for all.

If you would like to see pictures of the characters mentioned above and get more information on the show, just let me know, and I'll give you a link to a website with plenty of pictures. Also, this story is merged into the beginning of an actual episode of Ronin Warriors called "Raid on Talpa's Castle." The first six paragraphs and about the last two paragraphs are actual descriptions and dialogue from this particular episode.

**For those who don't know about the Swat Kats:**

I have a lot of explaining to do before you start reading this fanfic. First of all, there's the significance of the title. If you ever watched Swat Kats when it was playing on Cartoon Network, you would know that the full title of the show was "Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron." I also combined the famous phrase "Ronin Warriors to arms!" with the Sweat Kats. I honestly couldn't decide which title to use, so I decided to use both. Second, I also write Swat Kat fanfic under the same alias. Included in this fic is a character I created through my Swat Kat fics. I'll describe her later on, along with the other characters. And third, this fic was inspired by a challenge I saw on one of my online Ronin Warrior clubs. One of the members (I don't remember who it was exactly) posted a list of Ronin Warrior crossovers that she thought would never work, and one of them happened to be a Swat Kat crossover. Well, if whoever wrote that list is reading this, thanks for giving me this idea.

Anyway, you probably want to learn a bit about the Swat Kats before you start reading this fic. Swat Kats is a cartoon that focuses on two vigilantes bent on protecting MegaKat City at any cost. By day, they are two mechanics working in a salvage yard, but by night, the Swat Kats fly over MegaKat City in their jet, the TurboKat, watching out for any signs of trouble. Here's a list of the characters from the show that will be included in my fic, including the character that I originally created for my Swat Kat fic:

JAKE CLAWSON A.K.A. RAZOR

Razor is the inventor of the Swat Kat duo (or in the case of my Swat Kat fics, a trio). He has invented nearly every device that the Swat Kats use with scrap metal and spare parts from the salvage yard, from the TurboKat to the specialized missiles, Glovatrixes, Cyclotrons, and various other vehicles. Razor is strong and athletic, despite his size and build, and also very agile. In the TurboKat, Razor operates the weapons panel, which controls all of the missiles.

CHANCE FURLONG A.K.A. T-BONE

T-Bone is the pilot of the Swat Kat team. He is powerful and very aggressive when it comes to his Swat Kat duties. T-Bone tends to be the first to pick a fight with the enemy. He pilots the TurboKat and prefers to be the driver no matter what vehicle he's operating, even if it's the tow truck he uses in his day job.

CALLIE BRIGGS

Callie is the Deputy Mayor of MegaKat City, and the Swat Kats' closest ally. As the Deputy Mayor, Callie ends up doing all of the dirty work for Mayor Manx, MegaKat City's mayor. At the sight of trouble, Callie uses her special communicator to contact the Swat Kats.

COMMANDER FERAL

Ulysses Feral (yes, that is his real first name) is the commander of the Enforcers, a police force that's more like a miniature army that protects MegaKat City. He doesn't appreciate the Swat Kats' help, even though they usually end up getting the job done. Commander Feral doesn't like the fact that they choose to do things their way, which sometimes results in damage to buildings and other structures.

FELINA FERAL

Felina is a lieutenant in the Enforcers, and also happens to be Commander Feral's niece. She tends to be a bit on the rebellious side and occasionally disobeys her uncle's orders to stay put. Unlike her stubborn and strict uncle, Felina appreciates the Swat Kats' help and sometimes ends up helping them out.

DR. VIPER

Dr. Viper is one of the many villains who try to take over MegaKat City. Dr. Viper used to be Dr. Elrod Purvis, a scientist working at MegaKat Biochemical Labs, until a freak accident mutated him into a half-snake, half-kat creature. Now the demented doctor attempts time and time again to turn MegaKat City into his own personal swamp: MegaSwamp City.

DARK KAT

Dark Kat is yet another villain that tries to take over MegaKat City. With his endless army of winged Creeplings, Dark Kat steals high-tech weaponry from various technology firms and laboratories to destroy MegaKat City and create his own city: Dark Kat City, his capital of crime.

TABBY KATTERSON A.K.A. KAT

Tabitha Katterson, or Tabby for short, is the third team member of the Swat Kats that I created for my Swat Kat fics. She was in jail for burglary and ended up working in the salvage yard through a prison work program. By working at the salvage yard, Tabby discovers the secret hangar of the Swat Kats and soon becomes one of them. As Kat, she operates a new vehicle called the TurboCycle, which is a combination of a motorcycle and a mini- jet. Kat is very agile and relies on her wits and what she had learned from her criminal past to get out of sticky predicaments.

I should mention two more things, so there's no confusion. First, in case you haven't figured it out already, the Swat Kat world is a world where cats have evolved into humanoid cats, instead of apes evolving into humans. The humanoid cats are called kats, "K-A-T-S," instead of cats, "C-A-T-S." All words that would normally have the letters "c-a-t" in the word or a "cat" sound would be spelled "k-a-t" in the Swat Kat world. For example, "catastrophe" would be "katastrophe," and "cicada" would be "ci-kat-a," and so on. Second, if I'm referring to the Swat Kats by Razor, T-Bone, and Kat, that means they are in their Swat Kat uniforms. If I'm referring to them as Jake, Chance, and Tabby, that means they're working at their day job as mechanics at the MegaKat City Salvage Yard.

If you would like to see pictures of the characters mentioned above and get more information on the show, just let me know, and I'll give you a link to a website with plenty of pictures. And if you want to read my Swat Kat fics to learn more about Tabby/Kat, they're all here under my profile.


	2. Unexpected Arrivals

SWAT KATS TO ARMS! (a.k.a. Ronin Warriors: The Radical Squadron)

Part One: Unexpected Arrivals

In the modern city of Toyama, Japan, there were no signs of life whatsoever. Every building was empty, every street was deserted, and abandoned vehicles lay among the deserted streets. The only people left in the city were five teenage boys wearing sub-armor, a young woman with blue eyes and long dark reddish-brown hair, and a little boy with dark brown hair and blue eyes. The group of seven, along with a white tiger, were staring at a tall column of pale blue light leading into the dark billowing clouds above them. Suspended within the dark clouds was a huge feudal Japanese-style castle with tall spiraling towers and massive gates surrounding the castle.

"I can't believe that the Ancient is really dead," Kento muttered out loud.

"I know," Cye whispered.

"But he had faith in us. It was his guidance that brought us to the place we are now," Ryo reminded them.

"And his spirit is inside us, so let's go show Talpa what we've got!" Sage shouted.

"Okay, let's go. We can't waste the Ancient One's death," Rowen announced.

"Let's do it!" the five young warriors shouted simultaneously as they stood ready to enter the column of light.

"You guys trash those goons, okay?" the little boy asked.

"Yeah. Don't you worry, Yuli," Ryo assured the young boy. "We'll be back after we beat Talpa, and we'll bring back with us your parents and everyone else Talpa's captured, okay?" Yuli nodded his head in approval.

"We'll be waiting, and please, you take care of each other," the young woman requested.

"White Blaze, I want you to look after Yuli and Mia," Ryo told his white tiger, who roared in response. "All right. You guys ready?" Ryo asked his four friends.

"Anytime," Kento remarked.

"Gotta stick together, though," Rowen reminded everyone.

"Let's go!" the five friends shouted.

The Ronin Warriors simultaneously bent down and, with the strength of their sub-armor, jumped as high as they could into the column of pale blue light. Instantly, a strange force within the column grabbed the Ronin Warriors and lifted them further up.

"Good luck and come back!" Yuli shouted to the departing warriors.

_Ancient, please help them if you can,_ Mia prayed silently in her thoughts as she closed her eyes…

Meanwhile, inside a dark room somewhere in the castle, there was a spirit of a pink metal head with a matching samurai helmet and long white hair. This strange demon was well aware that the Ronin Warriors were on their way to his castle.

"Ha, ha, ha! Stupid monk! You are dead, and still you resist me!" Talpa cackled sinisterly. "And your desightfuls are determined to follow you into the next world. Arise, Nether Spirits!"

Talpa's eyes started to glow red, and instantly, hundreds of spirits cloaked in long pale blue robes and tall dark blue hats materialized into the room.

"Go now. Fly!" Talpa instructed his Nether Spirits. "Destroy their flesh! Spare only the armor!" All the Nether Spirits' eyes glowed a fiery red before they suddenly engulfed the room in a brilliant white light…

"What's that?" Mia gasped loudly. She, Yuli, and White Blaze watched as some unusual pink lightning struck down from the billowing dark clouds and surrounded the tunnel of light leading up to Talpa's castle. To their surprise, they suddenly saw hundreds of flying spirits, all dressed in pale blue robes and tall dark blue hats, coming from the castle in the clouds and circling around the bridge of light.

"Huh?" Ryo gasped. He and the other Ronin Warriors could see the numerous flying Nether Spirits gathering around the tunnel of light.

"Ooo, freak show!" Kento retorted.

"Friends of Talpa!" Sage shouted angrily.

Suddenly, the Nether Spirits became engulfed in a bright pink light.

"Huh?" Kento gasped as he and his friends watched the events unfolding.

All of a sudden, the several Nether Spirits turned into balls of pink light and gathered together into a massive beam of pink energy before striking the tunnel of pale blue light.

"They're trying to destroy the bridge!" Rowen shouted.

"AHH!" the five warriors screamed in pain as the Nether Spirits formed a giant ring around the bridge of pale blue light, repeatedly striking at it with jolts of pink energy.

"I can't see them! What's happening?" Yuli asked worriedly as he clung tightly to Mia in fear.

"Hey, guys, do we have a plan? This is bad! We're like sitting ducks up here!" Sage shouted as he floated upside-down in the tunnel.

"What's that?" Cye asked loudly, referring to a strange dark blue gaping hole with swirls of green that had mysteriously appeared into the wall of the tunnel.

"I don't know, but it can't be anything good!" Kento remarked.

"Looks like some sort of vortex!" Rowen shouted. "Don't get too close to it, guys!"

Suddenly, the dark blue-and-green vortex started to swirl around like a miniature tornado, pulling at them with an incredible force, like a black hole from outer space.

"Oh, no!" Ryo shouted as he felt the force of the vortex slowly pulling him in, along with his four friends.

"AHH!" the Ronin Warriors screamed as they got sucked into the mysterious vortex before it completely disappeared without a trace…

Meanwhile, outside a huge city on another planet known as MegaKat City, there was a large scrap yard with an auto garage. The sign right outside of the garage read "Jake and Chance's Garage" and a second sign above the garage door read BODY SHOP & ALL REPAIRS.

Inside the garage, a she-kat was searching for something in the refrigerator. Her fur was dark caramel brown with dark brown blotchy stripes on her forearms and a smaller blotchy stripe over her left eye. Her amethyst eyes appeared to glow from the light of the refrigerator. Her long dark brown hair was tied back in a ponytail and covered by a red baseball cap that she wore backwards. The she-kat was also wearing turquoise coveralls, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and black work boots.

"That should do it," the she-kat told herself in an Australian accent as she took out three cans of milk and closed the refrigerator. She carried the three cans down a short hallway and ended up in a small living room.

There were two tomkats sitting across from each other in the living room. The tomkat sitting on a chair was very muscular with light tan fur. The tomkat sitting across from the bigger tomkat on the couch was of a smaller build with caramel brown fur. Both tomkats were wearing the same mechanic coveralls that the she-kat was wearing, including red baseball caps that they also had on backwards. In addition, the bigger tomkat was also wearing a long-sleeve white shirt underneath his coveralls, which had sleeves that ended at his elbows. There was a table in between the two tomkats with a big bowl of red peppers sitting on top of it.

"Jake, Chance, here's the drinks you wanted," the she-kat announced.

"Thanks, Tabby," the bigger tomkat admitted as he put on a pair of dark gray gloves, followed by the smaller tomkat. "Just put them on the table for now."

"Fine, Chance," Tabby agreed as she placed two cans of milk on the table and sat down in a second chair. "I still don't get what you guys are trying to prove with this stupid contest. Are you trying to break a world record for eating the most mongo peppers or something?"

"No, we're not, Tabby," Jake replied as he tied a white bib with a picture of a red mongo pepper around his neck, along with Chance. "It's just a little tolerance test, to see who can beat the heat!"

"Care to join us, Tabby?" Chance asked.

"No way! I'm just here to watch the fireworks!" Tabby remarked as she poked a couple of holes in her can of milk with her claw.

"Then you can be the referee, Tabby. Last time we had a mongo pepper eat-off, Jake cheated!" Chance accused his friend.

"I didn't cheat, Chance!" Jake denied.

"Knock it off, guys! Let's just get this over with!" Tabby shouted before taking a sip of milk. Just then, a loud alarm suddenly went off.

"It's Callie!" Jake announced as he, Chance, and Tabby stood up.

"Looks like we'll have to settle this later, buddy," Chance muttered out loud as he and Jake quickly took off their gloves and bibs.

The three mechanics ran into the hallway until they reached a small throw rug. Tabby kicked the throw rug out of the way, revealing a trap door. Tabby quickly opened the trap door and climbed down a ladder, followed by Jake and Chance. The three mechanics eventually reached a huge concrete room with advanced computers, some beat-up lockers, a large black jet with red tiger stripes, red turbo engines, and yellow intakes, and a large black motorcycle with similar markings on it.

Chance headed over to a speaker on the wall and pressed a red button next to it. "Yes, Miss Briggs?"

"Swat Kats, it's Dr. Viper again!" a female's voice explained over the speaker. "He broke into MegaKat Biochemical Labs and stole some experimental chemicals."

"Any idea what this stuff can do, Miss Briggs?" Tabby asked curiously.

"I'm not exactly sure. I don't have all of the details, but I do know that these chemicals will be very dangerous in the wrong hands, especially Dr. Viper's!"

"Hang on, Miss Briggs. We're on our way," Jake announced before he turned off the connection.

"Let's hit it!" the three kats shouted simultaneously as they opened up their lockers, which held their Swat Kat uniforms…

Meanwhile, unknown to the Swat Kats, something very unusual was happening in MegaKat Swamp, located just outside of MegaKat City. A strange swirl of dark blue-and-green clouds appeared above a section of the swamp, forming a large gaping hole in the air.

"Heads up, guys! Looks like we're getting out of this thing!" Rowen warned his friends. The five teenage boys screamed as they flew through the opening and landed in a massive pool of shallow, muddy swamp water.

"Huh?" Kento gasped when he was startled by something jumping on top of his head. He looked up and realized that it was a big green frog.

"Chill, Kento. It's just a frog," Cye admitted with a quick laugh as he stood up, approached Kento, and picked up the frog. "It's not going to hurt you."

"I'm not afraid of some stupid frog, Cye," Kento retorted under his breath as Cye let the frog go.

"Where are we?" Ryo asked. "Are we in Talpa's realm?"

"If so, he should seriously consider re-landscaping the place," Sage joked sarcastically as he looked around the swamp.

"I doubt it, guys. We weren't even halfway up the bridge that the Ancient created for us when that strange vortex pulled us in," Rowen revealed.

"Then where are we, Rowen?" Ryo asked.

"I'm not sure, Ryo. I think the best thing we can do is look around and see if we can recognize anything," Rowen suggested.

"Yeah, good idea," Ryo agreed as he and the other Ronin Warriors started wading through the shallow swamp water toward a muddy bank…

"Razor, any idea where Dr. Viper would be heading?" T-Bone asked his partner, who was sitting behind him in the TurboKat's cockpit.

"If I were Dr. Viper, I would probably be heading for MegaKat Swamp," Razor muttered thoughtfully. "His secret laboratory is hidden in there somewhere."

"But we don't know that for sure, buddy," T-Bone pointed out. "Viper didn't leave any trail behind, according to your radar."

"He still could have gone to MegaKat Swamp, T-Bone," Kat announced through the radio, who was flying next to them on her TurboCycle. "Dr. Viper could have escaped through the sewers, and there happens to be a sewage treatment plant right next to MegaKat Swamp."

"Kat's right, T-Bone," Razor admitted. "My radar can't penetrate through the streets. And besides, Dr. Viper knows the sewers like the back of his scaly paw, so he could have used them to make his escape."

"And that would also explain how he got past all those guards at MegaKat Biochemical Labs," Kat announced.

"All right, guys. MegaKat Swamp, here we come!" T-Bone shouted as he flew the jet toward MegaKat Swamp, with Kat following behind them on the TurboCycle.

"Better bring it down here, T-Bone," Razor instructed, pointing down at a stretch of dry land at the edge of the swamp. "It'd be easier to track down Dr. Viper on foot."

"I hear ya! I'm bringing her down!" T-Bone agreed as he carefully landed the TurboKat on the stretch of dry land. As the TurboKat's glass canopy slid open, Kat landed the TurboCycle a few yards away from the TurboKat.

"You guys ready?" Kat asked as she approached the TurboKat with her Glovatrix already on her left wrist.

"You bet we are!" Razor announced as he and T-Bone put on their Glovatrixes.

"Let's kick some Viper tail!" T-Bone shouted as he and Razor jumped out of the TurboKat. Together, the three Swat Kats entered MegaKat Swamp in search of Dr. Viper…

"Crud! This is like looking for a needle in a haystack!" Kat complained loudly as she, Razor, and T-Bone waded through the thick murky mud. "This swamp is huge! How are we ever gonna find Dr. Viper?"

"Any ideas, Sure Shot?" T-Bone asked Razor.

"It'd be best if we split up. We'll be able to cover more ground that way," Razor suggested.

"Guess that's our only choice," Kat reluctantly admitted.

"Okay, we'll keep in touch with our helmet radios. If either of you find anything suspicious, let the rest of us know, okay?" Razor asked.

"You got it," T-Bone replied as Kat nodded in approval.

"All right. Let's do this," Razor remarked before the three Swat Kats split up and headed off in different directions. After a few minutes of walking, Kat found herself at a large shallow pool of muddy swamp water.

"Ugh! That smells nasty!" Kat retorted as she covered her mouth and nose with her paw. She cautiously walked around the pool of swamp water, being careful not to slip on the muddy bank surrounding the pool.

"What's that?" Kat asked herself when she noticed some strange-looking marks in the mud. "They're tracks, but what the heck could make tracks like this?" When she looked closer, Kat realized that there were five separate sets of tracks in the muddy bank.

"I should let the guys know about this," Kat muttered thoughtfully as she pressed a button on top of her helmet. "Razor, T-Bone, come in."

"What's going on, Kat?" Razor asked through the radio.

"I found some strange tracks in the mud, Razor," Kat told Razor.

"Do they belong to Dr. Viper?" Razor asked curiously.

"Unless he was wearing some funky metal boots, I don't think so!" Kat remarked. "I'm gonna follow these tracks and see where they lead to."

"All right, Kat, but be careful," Razor reluctantly agreed. "Radio us if you need any help."

"Gotcha, Razor," Kat replied before she turned off the radio. She took in a deep breath before she started to follow the strange tracks further into the swamp. Kat eventually wound up in a small thicket of trees. She was about to keep going when she heard some heavy footsteps approaching.

Not knowing who or what it was, Kat decided not to take any chances. She quickly jumped up into a nearby tree and used the thick branches to pull herself up. Kat stopped about halfway up the tree and sat down on a branch. She looked through the tree's leaves to see what was down below her.

Kat gasped slightly when she saw five strange creatures in the area. Their bodies were completely covered with strange metal suits that looked similar to Japanese sub-armor. The creatures themselves would have been strange looking even without the armor. Kat noticed from their faces that they were furless creatures with no visible tails. The only hair they had was on the top of their heads and on their eyebrows. Their ears were shaped differently from hers and were about halfway down the sides of their faces, whereas her ears were on the top of her head.

Each creature was distinctively different from the others by their looks and by the color of the armor they wore. One creature had long black hair, blue eyes, and his sub-armor was red and white. The second creature had thick blonde hair, violet-gray eyes, and his sub-armor was green and white. The third creature had long reddish-brown hair, green eyes, and his sub-armor was light blue and white. The fourth creature had short charcoal gray hair, which was held back with a yellow headband, blue eyes, and his sub-armor was orange and white. The last creature had short blue hair, which was held back with a dark blue headband, blue eyes, and his sub-armor was dark blue and white.

"You guys, I think we're lost," the creature in the red and white sub-armor told the other creatures.

"You're right, Ryo," the creature in the dark blue and white sub-armor replied in an Australian accent, which caught Kat a bit by surprise. "Those are our tracks from earlier."

"You mean we've been walking around in circles?" the creature in the orange and white sub-armor exclaimed loudly. "How are we gonna get out of this place?"

"Calm down, Kento," the creature in the light blue and white sub-armor reassured his burly friend, speaking with a British accent. "We'll find a way back home."

"I seriously doubt it, Cye," the creature in the green and white sub-armor retorted. "We can't exactly go back the way we came."

"Unfortunately, Sage is right," the creature in the dark blue and white sub-armor reluctantly admitted. "That vortex we came through closed up immediately after we ended up in here."

"They got here through a vortex?" Kat whispered thoughtfully to herself. "Does that mean the Pastmaster's up to something?"

"What are we supposed to do now, Rowen?" Ryo asked the creature in the dark blue and white sub-armor.

"Since walking around is apparently getting us nowhere, we should try to get a topside view of the area and see if we can find any signs of civilization," Rowen muttered thoughtfully.

"Chill, guys. I'm on it!" Kento announced as he crouched down and jumped into the very tree that Kat was in. Kat had her back against the trunk of the tree in hopes that the creature the others called "Kento" wouldn't see her.

Kento was almost halfway up the tree when he suddenly stopped climbing. He could see what appeared to be a large furry brown tail poking out from the other side of the tree.

"What's wrong, Kento? Why did you stop?" Cye asked.

"Guys, there's something else in this tree besides me," Kento told his friends.

"You sure it's not a squirrel, Kento?" Sage asked sarcastically.

"If that's true, it's a REALLY big squirrel, Sage!" Kento retorted.

Suddenly, the Ronin Warriors heard a loud creak of a branch coming from the opposite side of the tree that Kento was in.

"That wasn't me!" Kento denied.

"Then what was it?" Cye asked curiously.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out!" Kento announced as he carefully made his way around the trunk of the tree. He was surprised when he reached the other side of the tree to see nothing suspicious.

"Hey! Where did it go?" Kento asked himself as he looked around. He heard a slight creaking noise and looked up at the branch above him.

Kento gasped when he saw the strange creature. It looked like a humanoid female cat with brown fur and long dark brown hair. She was wearing some sort of uniform that was bright blue with a black collar, a red harness, and red triangles on the long sleeves. She also had on black low-heeled boots, black fingerless gloves, a strange metal contraption on her left paw, a black mask with mesh covering the eyeholes, and a blue helmet with a red triangle on the front.

"Here, kitty, kitty," Kento murmured mockingly as he started to pull himself up to the branch where the humanoid cat was standing.

To Kento's surprise, he got a slap in the face from the humanoid cat. Stunned by the unexpected blow, Kento lost his grip and fell to the ground.

"Are you all right, Kento?" Cye asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Kento groaned as he struggled to get up.

"What happened to you?" Sage asked when he noticed the red handprint with four fingers on Kento's cheek, which was already starting to fade away.

"There's some sort of…cat creature up there," Kento explained as he stood up with Cye's help. "She slapped me in the face! It was the weirdest thing I ever saw!"

"Honestly, I wouldn't talk if I were you!" a female's voice retorted with an Australian accent.

"Listen, uh…miss, we don't want any trouble," Ryo replied.

"Then you shouldn't be sending your friend up here to insult me!" the cat creature retorted.

"What did you say to her, Kento?" Cye asked curiously.

"I just said 'Here, kitty, kitty,' but I meant it as a joke!" Kento claimed.

"Excuse me, miss. We're sorry if our friend here offended you in any way," Rowen apologized. "Could you possibly come down here? We could use some help."

"No tricks?" the cat creature asked suspiciously.

"No tricks, I promise," Rowen replied. There was a long pause of awkward silence that followed.

"All right, then. I'm coming down," the cat creature announced. The five Ronin Warriors stepped back a bit in order to give the cat creature some space as she climbed down the trunk of the tree.

"What are you?" Ryo asked.

"I was about to ask you the same question," the cat creature remarked as she turned around. "And how come you have the same accent as me?" she asked Rowen. "Last time I checked, there weren't any strange furless creatures running around in Australia."

"But, I am from Australia," Rowen replied.

"That can't be possible…" the cat creature muttered thoughtfully to herself.

"Afraid so," Rowen replied. "I have a theory about this, but I'll have to explain later. Do you have a name?"

"It's Kat," the cat creature replied hesitantly. "Now, what about the five of you?"

"I'm Rowen, and this is Ryo, Sage, Kento, and Cye," Rowen introduced.

"All right, then. Now, on to the bigger question: What are you?" Kat asked curiously.

"We're human beings," Rowen explained. "You know, homo sapiens?"

"Never heard of them," Kat replied.

"Can you tell us where we are?" Sage asked.

"Well, right now, you're in MegaKat Swamp, just outside of MegaKat City," Kat explained as she pointed at the towering buildings in the distance with a yellow-and-green tinted skyline.

"Whoa…" Ryo exclaimed slowly as he and the other Ronin Warriors stared at the large cluster of skyscrapers that Kat called "MegaKat City."

"We're definitely not in Kansas anymore," Kento muttered out loud.

"You got that right," Cye agreed.

"Is this…MegaKat City located in Australia?" Rowen asked curiously.

"No, it's in California," Kat replied.

"So, if you live in MegaKat City, then what are you doing out here in a swamp?" Kento asked curiously.

"My partners and I are pursuing this dangerous criminal who just stole some secret chemicals from MegaKat Biochemical Labs," Kat explained. "By the way, did any of you happen to see a scrawny green-colored kat with a huge tail, glowing yellow eyes, and a white lab coat?"

"Afraid not," Sage replied as Ryo, Kento, Cye, and Rowen all shook their heads no. Suddenly, there was a loud beeping noise coming from Kat.

"Umm…Kat? Your helmet's beeping," Ryo pointed out.

"Oh, that's just my helmet radio," Kat explained. "It has to be Razor or T-Bone. Maybe one of them had better luck finding Dr. Viper."

"Dr. who?" Kento asked curiously.

"I'll explain it later," Kat replied as she pressed a small button on top of her helmet…

"Where are you hiding, Viper?" T-Bone muttered to himself as he continued treading through the swamp. He stopped walking when he heard some rustling coming from behind a large cluster of kattails.

"Come on out, you scum snake!" T-Bone shouted as he aimed his Glovatrix at the kattails.

"Cool it, T-Bone! It's just me," Razor announced as he stepped out of the group of kattails.

"Sorry, Razor," T-Bone apologized as he lowered his arm, which held the Glovatrix. "For a minute there, I thought you were Dr. Viper. Any luck finding him, buddy?"

"I'm having about as much luck finding him as you are," Razor remarked. "Have you heard anything from Kat?"

"That's a big negative, Razor," T-Bone replied.

"Well, I'm gonna find out what's going on with her," Razor announced. "Maybe Kat did find Dr. Viper, but didn't get a chance to tell us about it." He pressed a button on top of his helmet. "Kat, come in. Do you read me?"

"Yeah, I hear you. What's up?" Kat asked.

"Did you have any luck finding Viper?" Razor asked.

"No sign of him at all," Kat reluctantly admitted. "I'm guessing that you didn't find Viper either, otherwise you wouldn't even be asking me."

"Looks like we're gonna have to wait for Viper to make the next move," T-Bone reluctantly added.

"We'll meet you at the TurboKat, Kat," Razor told Kat.

"All right, then. But first, there's something you should know," Kat revealed.

"What is it, Kat?" T-Bone asked.

"Remember those tracks I told you about, Razor?" Kat asked.

"Yeah, I remember. What about them?" Razor asked.

"Well, I found out what made those tracks," Kat replied.

"What are you waiting for? Who left them?" T-Bone asked a bit impatiently.

"Believe me, this is something you'll have to see for yourselves!" Kat remarked. Razor and T-Bone looked at each other curiously, wondering what Kat could have stumbled on.

"What's your location, Kat? We'll meet with you and check out what you found," Razor requested.

"How about I bring them to you instead?" Kat suggested. "We'll meet at the TurboKat."

"I don't know about this…" T-Bone muttered disapprovingly.

"Come on, T-Bone! They're not any sort of threat!" Kat revealed. "We're all on the same side here."

"All right, Kat. We'll meet you by the TurboKat. Out," Razor replied before turning off the radio.

"Razor, what do you think you're doing?" T-Bone asked.

"Don't worry, buddy. I doubt that Kat's gonna make up something like this," Razor explained. "And in case it turns out that she's wrong about these creatures she found, we have plenty of firepower in the jet."

"Roger that, Razor," T-Bone replied as he and Razor ran through the muddy swamp…

"What's taking her so long?" T-Bone complained as he leaned against the TurboKat's wing. "I'm sure Kat's on her way, so calm down, bud," Razor replied.

"Waiting on me, guys?" Razor and T-Bone heard Kat ask.

The two Swat Kats turned around and saw Kat walking towards them. Following right behind her were five strange furless creatures wearing metal sub-armor.

"What the heck are those things?" T-Bone asked.

"Hey! We're not things, fur ball!" Kento retorted.

"The name's T-Bone!" T-Bone shouted.

"Cool it, T-Bone!" Razor warned his partner.

"The same goes for you, too, Kento!" Ryo warned Kento.

"Sorry about our friend here," Cye apologized. "His mouth tends to run faster than his brain sometimes."

"We can see that!" Razor remarked. "Umm…do you have names?"

"Yeah, we do. I'm Ryo, and this is Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen," Ryo introduced.

"I'm Razor, this is T-Bone, and you already met Kat," Razor introduced.

"Incredible!" Rowen admitted as he stared in awe at the TurboKat. "A F-14 Tomcat! Very impressive."

"Thanks, umm…Rowen, right?" Razor asked a bit uncertainly.

"Yeah, that's me," Rowen replied.

"Before we go any further, I'd like to speak with my partners in private," T-Bone announced.

"What is it, T-Bone?" Razor asked curiously as the three Swat Kats huddled together.

"What do we plan on doing with them, Razor?" T-Bone asked.

"We have no choice but to take them back to the hangar," Razor whispered.

"Are you crazy?" T-Bone whispered loudly. "How can we be so sure that they're good guys? With that weird armor they're wearing, who knows what they're capable of?"

"What else are we supposed to do, T-Bone? Leave it to the Enforcers?" Kat asked. "They'll just take one look at them and lock them up faster than you can say 'Holy Kats!' The Enforcers won't even give them a chance to explain themselves just because they're not exactly from around here."

"Let's give them a chance to explain their side of the story, T-Bone," Razor whispered.

"Fine," T-Bone reluctantly agreed. The three Swat Kats looked up at the five human boys.

"Listen, we're gonna have to take you to our secret hangar. It isn't safe for you out here in the open," Razor announced.

"Especially with that lunatic Dr. Viper running around," Kat added.

"But before we go anywhere, we'd like to ask you a few questions first," T-Bone pointed out as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Sure thing," Ryo agreed.

"First thing's first: How did you guys get here?" T-Bone asked suspiciously.

"Well, we were sucked into a strange vortex that brought us here," Rowen explained.

"What's with that armor that you're wearing?" Razor asked curiously.

"These are mystical armors that were given to us so we could defeat Talpa," Kento explained.

"Who's Talpa?" Kat asked curiously.

"Talpa is this evil demon from the Netherworld that's trying to take over our world," Cye explained.

"And that's why we need to find our way back, so we can finish off Talpa once and for all!" Sage proclaimed.

"I don't know about you two, but I believe them," Kat revealed.

"I think their story checks out, T-Bone," Razor admitted.

"All right," T-Bone muttered out loud. "But how are we going to get them all to the hangar?"

"We do have two spare Cyclotrons stored inside of the TurboKat," Razor suggested.

"How can we be sure that they even know how to ride a Cyclotron?" T-Bone whispered.

"Excuse me, but do any of you know how to drive a motorcycle?" Kat asked the five human boys.

"I do," Sage replied.

"Same here," Kento added.

"Does that answer your question, T-Bone?" Kat asked.

"Yeah, I guess," T-Bone muttered out loud as Razor pressed a button on his Glovatrix, which opened the TurboKat's Bombay doors.

"You guys are going to be following me on the Cyclotrons that Razor and T-Bone are getting out of the TurboKat," Kat explained as Razor and T-Bone walked up the loading ramp into the TurboKat. "They're just like motorcycles, only they're much bigger. Both Cyclotrons are two-seaters, so one of you will have to ride with me."

"I'll do it," Rowen volunteered.

"So, it's settled then," Kat admitted just as Razor and T-Bone were bringing out the large red-and-blue motorcycles out through the Bombay doors…


	3. Unusual Houseguests

SWAT KATS TO ARMS! (a.k.a. Ronin Warriors: The Radical Squadron)

Part Two: Unusual Houseguests

"Sorry about the bumpy ride, guys! We can't allow anyone to follow us!" Kat apologized to the Ronin Warriors as she steered the TurboCycle down the bumpy dirt road. Rowen was sitting behind her on the TurboCycle.

"That's understandable, Kat!" Cye shouted, who was riding on the Cyclotron on Kat's left, with Kento driving. Sage was driving the Cyclotron on Kat's right, with Ryo sitting behind him.

"We understand that you don't want anyone to find out about us or this secret hangar of yours!" Ryo shouted.

Kat nodded as she focused on the bumpy road in front of her. _T-Bone and his shortcuts!_ Kat thought angrily to herself.

The three motorcycles soon arrived at a large deserted area with tall piles of scrap metal and pieces of helicopters, tanks, jets, and other military vehicles.

"This looks like some sort of military salvage yard," Rowen admitted as he looked around at the piles of metal surrounding him and his friends.

"That's because it is a military salvage yard, Rowen," Kat pointed out. She soon stopped the TurboCycle when she reached a huge space boxed in by three tall piles of scrap metal. Kento and Sage also stopped the Cyclotrons that they were driving.

"What's going on, Kat? Why did you stop?" Kento asked curiously.

"Because the entrance to the hangar is right here," Kat explained, pointing at the empty space in front of her.

"So, what happens now?" Sage asked.

"You'll see," Kat replied as she pressed a button on the panel in front of her. The Ronin Warriors gasped out of surprise as a metal door slid open, revealing a long underground tunnel.

"That was so cool!" Kento openly confessed.

"Come on, let's go," Kat instructed as she revved up the TurboCycle and sped down the tunnel with Rowen.

"You heard her. Let's move it, Kento," Sage announced as he headed down the tunnel with Ryo, followed by Kento and Cye. They followed the long lit tunnel until they reached a larger room with the TurboKat parked on top of a round platform.

"Razor, what do you want us to do with the Cyclotrons?" Kat asked as the TurboKat's canopy slid open.

"Just leave them down here for now," Razor replied as he and T-Bone stood up in the cockpit. "We're probably gonna need to use them later."

"All right, Razor. I'll leave the TurboCycle down here for now," Kat replied and she and Rowen got off of the TurboCycle, while Kento, Cye, Ryo, and Sage got off of the two Cyclotrons.

"Bring them over here," Kat instructed as she pushed the TurboCycle to the concrete wall.

"Okay, Kat," Sage replied as he and Kento followed Kat, each pushing a Cyclotron with them.

After propping the TurboCycle and the two Cyclotrons against the concrete wall, Kat announced, "This way, guys." The Ronin Warriors followed Kat as she led them to the platform that the TurboKat was on.

"Hit it, T-Bone!" Razor shouted as the two Swat Kats sat back down in the jet.

"You got it!" T-Bone replied as he flipped a switch on the jet's control panel.

Suddenly, the large round platform rose up like a freight elevator, carrying the TurboKat, the three Swat Kats, and the Ronin Warriors up to the upper level of the hangar.

"Well, here we are," Razor announced as the platform stopped moving.

"Whoa!" Ryo and his four friends gasped out of astonishment as they looked around the huge room that they were in.

"Amazing!" Rowen admitted as he looked around the hangar. "Surveillance equipment, advanced computers, high-tech weaponry…this is quite a place you got here. How did you ever find the time to build all of this?"

"Actually, the hangar and most of the equipment has been here since Mega War Two," Razor revealed. "Whoever originally built this place must have passed away without telling anyone about the hangar, otherwise this land wouldn't have been turned into a salvage yard."

"Mega War Two? What's that?" Kento asked curiously.

"It was the second of two major wars between certain foreign countries," Kat explained.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was the cause for this Mega War Two?" Rowen asked curiously.

"There was this crazy tomkat in Germany known as Adolph Hitler, who killed hundreds of innocent kats and forced many of them into concentration camps just because they were Jewish," T-Bone explained.

"He eventually spread his anti-Jew campaign throughout most of Europe," Razor continued. "The United States didn't get involved in the war until the Japanese…"

"Bombed Pearl Harbor, an important military base located in Hawaii, on December 7, 1941," Rowen finished, which caught all three Swat Kats by surprise

"That's right. How did you know about this, Rowen?" Kat asked curiously.

"We had two major wars on our planet as well under similar circumstances, only they were known as World War One and Two," Rowen explained.

"Whoa! That's just plain creepy!" T-Bone openly confessed. "Both our world and theirs having two major wars around the same time under similar circumstances…"

"Yeah, that's pretty weird. You have to tell me more about your planet's history, Rowen. Perhaps this is proof that our worlds are parallel universes to one another," Razor suggested.

"Maybe they are, Razor," Rowen admitted.

"Hey, where did Kat go?" Cye asked curiously.

Razor and T-Bone looked around and noticed that their third partner was no longer in the room. "Hey, Kat! Where are you?" T-Bone shouted.

"Right behind ya, T-Bone!" Kat announced.

The two Swat Kats and five Ronin Warriors turned around and saw Kat; only she was no longer in her Swat Kat uniform. She was now wearing a pair of turquoise mechanic coveralls, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and black work boots. She also had her long brown hair tied up in a ponytail, with a red baseball cap on top of her head that she wore backwards.

"What's with the costume change?" Sage asked curiously.

"We don't stay in our uniforms all day, you know. Don't tell me that you wear those metal suits all the time!" Tabby retorted.

"Of course not," Ryo replied.

"Come on. I'll take you upstairs to the garage, so Razor and T-Bone can have some privacy," Tabby announced as she walked toward a metal ladder leading to a wooden trap door.

"We'll be up in a few minutes, Tabby," Razor replied as the Ronin Warriors followed Tabby up the ladder.

"Tabby? Isn't that short for Tabitha?" Cye asked.

"Yeah, it is. You're good," Tabby remarked. She was the first to reach the garage, followed by Rowen, Sage, Kento, Cye, and Ryo.

"So, you guys have these secret identities where you're regular people, umm…kats, by day and you're heroes at night, like Superman or Batman?" Kento asked.

"You read way too many comics, Kento," Cye remarked jokingly.

"Actually, he's got the right idea," Tabby confessed. "We lead normal lives, just like anyone else would. But whenever the city's under attack, we Swat Kats will put a stop to it by almost any means possible."

"So, the Swat Kats are vigilantes, correct?" Rowen asked.

"Yeah, we are," Tabby replied.

"Vigilantes? What are they, Rowen?" Kento asked curiously.

"A vigilante is an individual or a small group of individuals that follow their own rules to control and punish crimes," Rowen explained.

"That's about the size of it," Tabby confessed. "I gotta get something in the kitchen. I'll be right back."

As Tabby headed to the kitchen, Ryo and Sage took seats in the two chairs, while Kento, Cye, and Rowen sat on the beat-up old couch.

"Hmm…what are these?" Kento asked, pointing at a bowl full of small red peppers on the coffee table in front of him, which looked a lot like red jalapenos.

"It's a pepper, obviously," Cye retorted.

"I don't think you should be doing that, Kento," Sage warned Kento as he picked up one of the red peppers from the bowl. "It's probably not a good idea to eat a foreign food from another world."

"Yeah, right, Sage. What's going to happen?" Kento retorted before popping the pepper in his mouth.

"Oh, by the way, guys! I almost forgot to tell you: don't eat any of those peppers on the table!" Tabby shouted from the kitchen.

Kento quickly swallowed the pepper in his mouth as Cye asked curiously, "Why is that, Tabby?"

"Those are mongo peppers. They're extremely hot!" Tabby explained. "Unless you want the worst case of heartburn you'll ever get in your entire life, I wouldn't recommend eating a mongo pepper!"

"Uh-oh! Check out Kento!" Ryo remarked as he pointed at Kento, whose face was bright red and completely drenched in sweat.

"Stand back! He's gonna blow!" Cye joked.

"Water! WATER!" Kento barely got out as he fanned his open mouth with both hands.

"What's wrong with him?" Tabby asked suspiciously as she walked into the living room.

"Kento ate one of those mongo peppers you warned us about, Tabby," Rowen explained.

"Here you go. A can of milk will put out that fire!" Tabby announced as she slid one of the unopened cans of milk down the table to Kento. Kento quickly picked the can up and flipped the can over, searching frantically for the tab to open the can.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that you humans don't have retractable claws," Tabby apologized. She quickly extracted one of her claws and used it to poke a hole in the can's lid.

Kento quickly grabbed the can of milk from Tabby and gulped down the cold milk without even stopping for air.

"Man, that was hot!" Kento gasped loudly as he put down the empty can and took in several deep gasps of air.

"I warned you about those peppers," Tabby reminded Kento as Ryo, Cye, Sage, and Rowen snickered a bit over their friend's antics.

"What's going on in here?" Jake asked curiously as he and Chance came up through the trap door, both wearing the same mechanic coveralls and baseball caps as Tabby.

"We heard someone screaming," Chance added as the two tomkats entered the living room.

"No big deal. Kento just ate a mongo pepper. He couldn't stand the after burn," Tabby explained with a quick laugh…

Meanwhile, unknown to the Swat Kats, the elusive Dr. Viper was wandering through the maze of sewer pipes underneath MegaKat City. He was carrying two large flasks containing a strange pale blue liquid. Dr. Viper soon entered a large room in the sewers. In the back of the room was a throne with a mysterious large figure sitting on it.

"I have the exxxperimental ssserum that MegaKat Biochemical Labsss wasss working on," Dr. Viper announced as he held up the flasks. The huge figure stood up and stepped into a patch of pale light, revealing himself as Dark Kat.

"Excellent work, Dr. Viper. With this serum, MegaKat City will be ours for the taking!" Dark Kat boasted.

"Of courssse," Dr. Viper hissed a bit uncertainly, recalling the last time Dark Kat promised to split the city with him but ended up double-crossing him in the end.

"This serum should increase the strength of my Creeplings by tenfold, correct?" Dark Kat asked as he took one of the flasks from Dr. Viper.

"Indeed it will, Dark Kat. And it shall do the sssame to my alliesss asss well," Dr. Viper muttered out loud.

"What are you talking about, Viper?" Dark Kat asked curiously.

"You will sssee, Dark Kat. You will sssee," Dr. Viper replied as he headed towards a separate room that had been converted into a makeshift laboratory for him, followed by Dark Kat and two of his Creeplings. "But firssst, I'll need to tessst thisss ssserum out before we can continue with our plan to take over MegaKat Cccity."

"Of course, Viper," Dark Kat agreed. He turned around and looked at the two Creeplings that followed him into Dr. Viper's lab. "So…which one of you wants to be the guinea pig?" The two Creeplings both let out short growls as they pointed at each other.

"In that case, you'll do!" Dark Kat muttered out loud as he grabbed the Creepling closest to him with his huge purple paw and carried it to a heavy wooden table with metal chains connected to the side. After Dark Kat placed the Creepling on the table, Dr. Viper secured the chains tightly around the Creepling.

"Are you sure this serum will work, Viper?" Dark Kat asked as Dr. Viper filled a syringe with the pale blue liquid from one of the flasks.

"We'll sssoon sssee, Dark Kat," Dr. Viper replied as he turned around and approached the table with the Creepling tied securely to it.

The Creepling let out a pain-filled squeal when Dr. Viper inserted the needle in its arm and injected the liquid into its body. As soon as Dr. Viper removed the syringe from the Creepling's arm, the small pink-winged creature broke out into severe convulsions, restrained by the chains holding it to the table. Dark Kat, Dr. Viper, and the other Creepling watched in astonishment as the Creepling's scrawny build started to slowly increase. About a minute after they started, the Creepling's convulsions abruptly ended. After a few awkward moments of silence, the Creepling quickly opened its eyes and ripped the chains apart effortlessly, as though they were just pieces of cheap rope.

"It worked!" Dark Kat exclaimed as he watched the Creepling in astonishment.

"Exxxcellent!" Dr. Viper hissed gleefully as he rubbed his paws together. The now stronger Creepling let out a louder, more menacing growl as it slammed its fists in the center of the table, nearly breaking it in half.

"Not only does this serum increase their strength, it seems to have affected their aggression as well," Dark Kat muttered thoughtfully. He turned around and looked at Dr. Viper, who was on the other side of the lab. Dark Kat noticed that Dr. Viper had pulled out two more flasks, which both contained a mysterious dark green chemical that was labeled "Katalyst 96."

As Dr. Viper placed the flasks of Katalyst 96 next to two large jars full of insects, Dark Kat asked curiously, "What are those extra chemicals for, Viper?"

"You won't be the only one with an army of powerful creaturesss, Dark Kat," Dr. Viper replied.

"You wouldn't be planning on double-crossing me, eh, Viper?" Dark Kat asked suspiciously.

"Of courssse not, Dark Kat," Dr. Viper remarked. "Even if I wasss, it would ssserve you right for what you've done the lassst time we agreed to work together."

"Calm down now, Viper. That's all in the past," Dark Kat tried to convince Dr. Viper.

"You were the one who tricked me and nearly had me dessstroyed by the Metallikatsss!" Dr. Viper shouted angrily as he quickly turned around to face Dark Kat. "You would have sssucccccceeded if I haven't removed the neuro-ssscramblersss from their necksss."

"Take it easy, Viper," Dark Kat replied as he held up his large purple paws in front of him. "I promise you, I will not deceive you again. With your army of insects and my army of Creeplings, no one will be able to stop us this time, not even those meddlesome Swat Kats!"

"Even with that newessst member of theirsss?" Dr. Viper asked.

"Even with that pesky she-kat helping them, the Swat Kats won't be able to stop us from ruling MegaKat City!" Dark Kat boasted with a deep sinister laugh. Dr. Viper and the two Creeplings soon joined Dark Kat by chuckling sinisterly with him…

"Did you guys enjoy those pizzas?" Tabby asked curiously. The Ronin Warriors were all sitting at the kitchen table, with a couple of empty pizza boxes in front of them.

"It was…interesting," Rowen replied.

"I honestly never had pizza with tuna on it before," Cye confessed.

"It was pretty good, though," Kento added as he stuffed the last piece of his slice of pizza into his mouth. Just then, the Ronin Warriors and Tabby heard loud laughter coming from the living room.

"Sounds like Chance is watching his favorite show, 'Scaredy Kat,' " Tabby remarked.

"Scaredy Kat? What's that?" Sage asked curiously.

"It's a cartoon show that Chance watches every day," Tabby explained. "I think it's pretty stupid, but I guess you'll have to be the judge for yourself."

"Let's check it out," Ryo suggested as he, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen got up from the table and left the kitchen, followed by Tabby. They arrived in the living room just in time to see an animated kat on the television set open a door with a ghost popping out, causing the kat to scream loudly out of fright, his eyes bugging out of their sockets.

"Ha, ha, ha! You go, Scaredy Kat!" Chance laughed out loud, who was sitting on the couch with Jake.

"That is pretty funny!" Kento admitted with a quick laugh. Just then, an alarm went off.

"It's Callie," Jake replied as Chance turned off the television with the remote control.

"Who's Callie?" Ryo asked curiously.

"I'll explain later, but now, you all have to be quiet," Tabby whispered as Chance removed a small hand-held radio from his pocket.

"Yes, Miss Briggs?" Chance asked through the radio.

"Swat Kats, Puma Dyne Labs is being attacked by Dark Kat's Creeplings," Callie explained over the radio.

"We're on our way, Miss Briggs," Chance replied as he turned off the radio.

"So, who's this Callie?" Ryo asked again.

"Callie Briggs is MegaKat City's Deputy Mayor," Tabby explained. "She supports us and helps us out when she can."

"Oh! Kinda like how Commissioner Gordon helps out Batman, eh?" Kento asked curiously.

"Yeah…I guess," Tabby replied uncertainly, since she never heard of Batman or Commissioner Gordon.

"Come on, bud! We're out of here!" Chance shouted.

"Yeah, we're out of here!" Tabby agreed as she ran for the trap door.

"Hold on there, Tabby," Jake interrupted as he stood in front of Tabby, blocking her path.

"You have to stay here and keep an eye on these guys," Chance added as he jerked a thumb over at the Ronin Warriors.

"What for? I'm sure they're capable of taking care of themselves for an hour or so," Tabby pointed out.

"Tabby, what if someone comes to the garage and sees them, like Burke and Murray? You know those two won't keep a secret like this!" Chance retorted.

"I see where you're going with this," Tabby reluctantly admitted. "I'll stay here while you two go kick Dark Kat's tail."

"Sorry to do this to you, Tabby, but you do understand, right?" Jake apologized.

"Yes, I understand, Jake. Now, get going before those Creeplings get away!" Tabby complained.

"Come on, Jake. Let's hit it!" Chance shouted as he moved the throw rug and opened the trap door leading to the hangar.

"Coming, Chance," Jake replied as he followed Chance down the ladder.

As Tabby closed the trap door, she murmured under her breath, "I can't believe this! I'm no babysitter!"

As Tabby slid the throw rug back over the trap door, Cye approached her from behind. "Tabby, we're sorry about this. We don't mean to be any trouble."

"Hey, it's not your fault you ended up here," Tabby pointed out. "Besides, they're right. It'd be bad if someone else spotted you here. Not only would that expose our vigilante operation, but that would also be putting your tails on the line as well."

"Are you sure about that?" Sage asked curiously.

"Let me put it this way: How would the other humans on your home planet react if they saw me?" Tabby asked curiously.

"They would definitely freak out!" Kento remarked.

"After that, the military would probably capture you, study you in an isolated environment, and eventually dissect you to see what makes you tick," Rowen reluctantly added.

"That would be the same case here. That's why we brought you here rather than turn you in to the Enforcers," Tabby pointed out…

"Ready, buddy?" Razor asked T-Bone as they put on their Glovatrixes.

"Let's hit it!" T-Bone shouted as they jumped out of the TurboKat's cockpit and ran towards a door on the roof of Puma Dyne Labs. They quickly ran down the flight of stairs until they reached the ground floor, where all the laboratories were located.

"Looks like those Creeplings were just here," Razor muttered out loud as he and T-Bone entered the main research laboratory.

It was clearly obvious that someone was looking for something. Several glass beakers and bottles were shattered, leaving puddles of chemicals all over the floor and lab tables, papers were torn up and scattered around, and broken chairs were thrown all over the room.

"They sure made a mess of the place!" T-Bone remarked as the two Swat Kats cautiously stepped over the spilt chemicals. "What were they after, anyway?"

"I'm not sure, T-Bone," Razor replied as he picked up a folder from one of the tables and started flipping through the contents. "As far as I know, Puma Dyne hasn't been developing any new weapons that Dark Kat would be interested in."

As T-Bone looked around, he noticed something unusual on a large safe door. "Hey, Razor, look at this!" T-Bone announced.

Razor turned around and approached the safe door to see what T-Bone was pointing at. "No way! These are claw marks!" Razor gasped as he ran his paw over the long indentations in the thick steel door of the safe. "This is very strange."

"What's so strange about it, Razor?" T-Bone asked curiously as Razor continued to examine the deep scratches.

"This safe door is a solid foot of reinforced steel, T-Bone. Under normal circumstances, a Creepling trying to scratch this door would be like someone trying to scratch a diamond with a hunk of glass!" Razor explained.

"So, what did make these scratches, buddy?" T-Bone asked.

"I'm not exactly sure, T-Bone. That is, unless…" Razor muttered thoughtfully.

"Unless what?" T-Bone prodded.

"Unless Dark Kat somehow made his Creepling stronger, which might tie in with those experimental chemicals that Dr. Viper stole from here!" Razor theorized.

"You mean that scum snake's in cahoots with Dark Kat again? That's all we need!" T-Bone retorted angrily.

"Be quiet, T-Bone," Razor whispered.

"Why? What's up, Sure Shot?" T-Bone asked curiously.

"I thought I heard something," Razor whispered as he slowly looked around the laboratory.

"I don't hear anything," T-Bone whispered. Just then, the two Swat Kats heard a loud metallic clang from the other side of the room.

"I definitely heard it that time!" T-Bone confessed as he and Razor slowly crept to the back of the room, prepared to fire their Glovatrixes at whatever they may encounter. When they reached the back of the laboratory, Razor and T-Bone found nothing out of the ordinary.

"There's nobody here!" T-Bone complained as he lowered his Glovatrix.

"We might as well head back to the hangar, T-Bone. There's nothing more we can do here," Razor suggested as he and T-Bone headed for the door. Before he reached the door, Razor let out a startled yell as something grabbed his leg, causing him to fall face-first to the floor.

"Razor, are you all right?" T-Bone asked as he turned around. He gasped loudly when he saw Razor struggling with a pair of Creeplings.

"What the…" T-Bone was interrupted when two Creeplings tackled him down to the ground and pinned his arms to the floor. He tried to knock the Creeplings away, but their grips were like a pair of vices.

"Exxxcellent work!" a familiar voice hissed from the shadows. Razor and T-Bone looked up and recognized the glowing yellow eyes in the far corner of the laboratory.

"Well, what do you know? It's old Snake Eyes himself!" Razor retorted under his breath as Dr. Viper emerged from the shadows and approached the two Swat Kats.

"Looksss like you Ssswat Katsss fell right into our trap!" Dr. Viper hissed sinisterly.

"Our trap? So, you are working with Dark Kat!" T-Bone realized.

"That'sss absssolutely correct. Looksss like there'sss only two of you. No matter. There'sss no way that your new friend can ssstop us from taking over MegaKat Cccity!" Dr. Viper exclaimed gleefully. He then turned his attention to one of the Creeplings that had T-Bone pinned to the floor.

"Tie them up and bring them with usss to Dark Kat'sss lair!" Dr. Viper ordered as he produced a coil of thick rope from his lab coat…

"WAHOO!" Kento shouted loudly out of excitement. He and Cye were trying out the centrifuge in the Swat Kats' hangar, while Tabby, Ryo, Sage, and Rowen stood by and watched.

"What a hot dog!" Sage retorted under his breath as he watched the centrifuge spin around at incredible speeds.

"How fast are they going, Tabby?" Rowen asked curiously.

"They're up to Mach Four," Tabby reported.

"Mach Four? That's four times the speed of sound!" Rowen exclaimed. Just then, the centrifuge started to slow down.

"What's going on?" Ryo asked curiously.

"I didn't do anything, so either Kento or Cye pressed the panic button I told them about before they got into the centrifuge," Tabby explained as the centrifuge came to a complete stop.

"Aww, man! Why did you stop this thing, Tabby?" Kento complained loudly as he undid his safety harness.

"It wasn't me, Kento, so it must have been Cye," Tabby pointed out. "Something must have happened if he had to press the panic button. Come on!"

Tabby, Ryo, Sage, Kento, and Rowen soon reached the other side of the centrifuge, where Cye was still strapped in.

"Hey, Cye, how are you feeling?" Ryo asked curiously when he noticed Cye's pale face.

"Not so well, I'm afraid," Cye mumbled weakly as he slowly undid his safety harness.

"You gonna be okay, Cye?" Kento asked out of concern as he helped his friend out of the centrifuge.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, Kento. I just need to sit down for a bit," Cye replied as he sat down on the floor away from the centrifuge.

"Okay, so who wants to be next?" Kento asked Ryo, Sage, and Rowen, who exchanged slightly panicked looks with each other. Just then, the alarm went off and a red light started flashing above a telephone in the centrifuge room.

"Aww, shoot!" Kento complained loudly as Ryo, Sage, and Rowen all let out silent sighs of relief.

Tabby silently warned the five humans to be quiet as she pressed a button, turning off the alarm, and picked up the telephone. "This is Kat. What's the problem, Miss Briggs?"

"Kat, I found out more about those experimental chemicals that Dr. Viper stole from MegaKat Biochemical," Callie announced.

"What about them?" Tabby asked curiously.

"Apparently, those flasks contained an experimental serum that they hoped to use on military personnel," Callie explained. "The serum had been tested on lab rats, and according to their reports, the rats showed an increase in strength by at least tenfold!"

"Whoa! I can just imagine what Viper plans on doing with that stuff!" Tabby remarked. "Don't worry, Miss Briggs. We can handle it."

As Tabby hung up the phone, Rowen asked, "Any idea what Dr. Viper plans on doing with the serum he stole?"

"Not a clue!" Tabby confessed as she walked into the main hangar, followed by the five humans. "Honestly, this serum sounds more like something Dark Kat would be interested in. Either way, I gotta let Jake and Chance know about this."

Tabby picked up the hand-held radio that Chance left behind and turned the dial slightly before speaking into it. "Razor, T-Bone, come in. I got some new info about those chemicals Viper stole from MegaKat Biochemical."

Tabby paused for a few moments, but got no response. "Razor, T-Bone, please come in! This is important!" She sighed out of frustration when she still got no response from either of the two Swat Kats.

"Maybe they're too busy fighting to run to the radio," Ryo suggested.

"That can't be, Ryo. All our helmets have a radio link in them. Even if they were busy fighting, they would at least take a second to let me know that," Tabby pointed out. "Something's wrong, I just know it."

"Well, how about we go over to that Puma Dyne place and see what's going on?" Kento suggested.

"That may not be such a hot idea, Kento. What if someone sees us?" Cye asked.

"Well, I don't wanna risk leaving you guys here, so I guess we have no choice," Tabby muttered out loud. "You'll have to come with me to Puma Dyne."

"All right!" Kento cheered. "It's party time!"

"Chill out, Kento! We're only going to investigate, not to fight," Sage retorted.

"Aww, man!" Kento complained.

"Sorry, Kento, but we're only going to see what happened to Razor and T-Bone," Tabby explained as she put the hand-held radio back. "We'll see where it goes when we get there, all right?"

"You're worried about your friends, aren't you?" Rowen asked as he, Ryo, Sage, Kento, and Cye followed Tabby to her locker.

"Of course, I am. Razor and T-Bone have been doing this much longer than I have. Normally, they'd have no problem taking care of a bunch of Creeplings! That's what worries me!" Tabby revealed as she opened her locker and pulled out her Swat Kat uniform…

"Welcome to Puma Dyne Labs!" Kat announced as she pulled alongside the metal chain link fence surrounding the military research facility, along with the Ronin Warriors.

"Hey, isn't that their jet up there?" Ryo asked, pointing at the roof of Puma Dyne. Kat looked up and noticed the black fighter jet that Ryo was pointing at.

"That's the TurboKat, all right. Hopefully, Razor and T-Bone are still inside," Kat muttered out loud as she and Rowen climbed off of the TurboCycle.

"But how are we gonna get inside, Kat?" Sage asked curiously. "There are guards all over the place!" Kat looked up and noticed the Enforcers patrolling around the building.

"Then we'll just have to go around them. Come on!" Kat instructed as she approached the chain link fence and proceeded to climb it.

"Well, you heard her. Let's go," Ryo announced as he scaled the chain fence, along with Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen.

As Rowen hurdled over the top of the fence and landed on the other side, Kat whispered, "This way, guys!" She quickly ran across the stretch of bare ground separating the fence from Puma Dyne Labs, with the five armor-clad humans following close behind. They soon reached the side of the building and hid behind an emergency power generator just as an Enforcer turned the corner. Seeing nothing suspicious, the Enforcer turned back around and continued his patrol.

"That was close. That officer almost spotted us," Cye whispered as Kat peered around the power generator to make sure the coast was clear.

"How are we gonna get inside with all those guards patrolling the place?" Sage asked curiously.

"We'll get in through the roof," Kat muttered out loud as she looked around and noticed a metal ladder attached to the wall leading to the roof. "This way!"

Ryo, who was closest to the ladder, was the first to climb up to the roof, followed by Sage, Rowen, Kento, Cye, and Kat. Once Kat reached the roof, she pressed a button on the side of her helmet, causing a black visor to appear over her eyes.

"What are you doing, Kat?" Kento asked curiously.

"I'm scanning for Razor and T-Bone's footprints. That'll give us an idea where to look for them," Kat explained as she looked towards the TurboKat. She noticed two sets of footprints leading from the jet to a door not far from them.

"Did you find something, Kat?" Rowen asked as he followed Kat's gaze to the door.

"Their tracks lead to that door. Let's go," Kat replied as she approached the door and opened it, revealing a long stairway.

The female Swat Kat cautiously walked down the stairs, followed by Rowen, Kento, Cye, Sage, and Ryo. The group of six eventually ended up in the main laboratory.

"Whoa! This place is a total mess!" Kento admitted as he looked around at the spilled chemicals, broken glass, torn papers, and busted chairs scattered on the floor.

"Looks like your room!" Cye muttered sarcastically.

"What was that about my room?" Kento shouted angrily.

"Can you two settle this later?" Kat asked as she studied the several footprints with her visor. "We got more important things to take care of."

"What do you see, Kat?" Rowen asked curiously.

"It's not good. From what I can see, it seems that Razor and T-Bone were ambushed by four to five Creeplings…and Dr. Viper!" Kat revealed. "Looks like I was right after all. Dr. Viper and Dark Kat are working together again, and they must have used that serum on the Creeplings."

"Hey, don't worry, Kat. We'll help you get your friends back," Ryo assured Kat.

"Yeah, we'll pound those Creeplings for you!" Kento announced as he slammed his fist into his other hand.

"Thanks for your help. We just need to follow the tracks that Dr. Viper and the Creeplings left behind. Hopefully, their tracks will lead us to where they're keeping Razor and T-Bone," Kat explained.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ryo shouted.

"All right. The tracks lead down that hallway," Kat announced, pointing at a hallway ahead of her.

As the group of six headed down the hallway, with Kat in the lead, Sage spotted a shadow coming towards them from a bend in the hallway.

"Guys, someone's coming!" Sage whispered loudly.

"Shh!" Kat whispered to the Ronin Warriors as the shadow came closer.

A few grueling moments later, a female Enforcer with tan fur and shoulder-length black hair with noticeable white streaks turned the corner. Startled by the five strange-looking creatures in the metal armor, she quickly withdrew her weapon.

"Hold it right there…whatever you are!"

"Lieutenant, relax! They're with me!" Kat shouted as she stepped in between the Ronin Warriors and the female Enforcer.

"Kat? What's going on here?" the lieutenant asked as she cautiously put her weapon back in her holster.

"That's what I'm trying to find out. Razor and T-Bone came here before me, but now they're gone and the TurboKat's still on the roof. We've been following their tracks until we bumped into you, Lieutenant," Kat explained.

"I see. So, who…or what are those guys?" the lieutenant asked curiously.

"They call themselves humans, from a planet called Earth. This is Rowen, Sage, Cye, Kento, and this is their leader, Ryo," Kat introduced the five humans.

Ryo stepped forward, held out his hand, and asked, "And you are?"

The lieutenant hesitated for a moment before she held out her paw and shook Ryo's hand. "Lieutenant Felina Feral," she stated.

"Now that that's settled, we should get going. Dr. Viper got a good head start," Kat announced.

"Dr. Viper? Are you sure?" Felina asked.

"His footprints are all over the place, Lieutenant, and he wasn't alone! Dark Kat left his calling card as well," Kat revealed as she continued to follow the footprints, along with the Ronin Warriors and Felina.

"Dark Kat and Dr. Viper are working together again? I should have guessed. That stuff that Viper stole from MegaKat Biochemical, it doesn't seem to fit his M.O. But, from all the information I gathered about the stolen chemicals, it's definitely something Dark Kat would be interested in," Felina explained.

"Yeah, definitely, and the proof's in the lab!" Kat remarked. "Claw marks left in reinforced steel…those were definitely not made by normal Creeplings!" Suddenly, Kat came to an abrupt halt.

"What's the matter, Kat? Why did you stop?" Rowen asked curiously.

"This is where the tracks end," Kat explained as she pressed the button on her helmet, causing the visor to disappear into her helmet.

"Maybe they went through there," Cye suggested, pointing at a metal grate on the floor.

"Any idea where that goes, Lieutenant?" Kat asked.

"There should be a ladder that leads down into the sewer system underneath the building," Felina revealed.

"That's just like a snake to slither down into the sewers," Kat muttered under her breath as she lifted the metal grate, revealing a long dark tunnel with a ladder attached to the side of it.

"We'll go down first, Kat. No telling what's down there," Ryo insisted.

"All right, then," Kat agreed as Ryo climbed down the tunnel, followed by Kento.

As Cye started his descent into the dark tunnel, Kat announced, "You should stay here, Lieutenant. It could be very dangerous. Since Dark Kat and Dr. Viper have that stolen serum in their possession, no telling what else we're going to come across down there."

"Forget it, Kat! I'm going with you!" Felina insisted as Sage started climbing down the ladder after Cye.

"But, Lieutenant…" Kat started to protest.

"I don't take no for an answer, Kat! I'm surprised Razor and T-Bone didn't tell you that!" Felina remarked.

"Looks like we got something in common, Lieutenant," Kat confessed with a small smirk.

Just then, there was a beeping noise coming from Felina. She removed a hand-held radio from her pocket and replied, "Lieutenant Feral here."

"Felina, have you made any progress at Puma Dyne?" a deep tomkat's voice asked over the hand-held radio, who Kat recognized as Commander Feral.

"Yes, uncle. I think I know who's behind all this. I'm going to investigate further," Felina reported.

"No, Felina! I'm ordering you to stay where you are!" Commander Feral ordered.

"Sorry, what was that, uncle? You're breaking up!" Felina shouted as she intentionally turned a dial on the side of the radio, causing static to build up over the radio's frequency.

"I…stay…you…Felina…" Commander Feral's broken up voice garbled over the radio before Felina turned off the hand-held radio.

As she put the radio back in her pocket, Kat asked suspiciously, "What was that all about, Lieutenant?"

"Sometimes, I just can't stand it anymore, Kat! My uncle's so overprotective of me!" Felina complained.

"So I noticed!" Kat remarked.

"I know my uncle's just looking after me because I'm family and he doesn't want to see me get hurt, but he knows as well as I do the risks involved with being a MegaKat City Enforcer," Felina revealed.

"You two ready to go?" Rowen interrupted.

"We're coming, Rowen. Go ahead, we'll meet you down there," Kat replied. Rowen nodded his head as he climbed down the ladder, disappearing in the darkness of the tunnel.

"I'll go first, all right, Lieutenant Feral?" Kat asked.

"Be my guest, Kat," Felina replied. Kat nodded as she climbed down the ladder, followed soon by Felina. They eventually found themselves in a wide metal sewage pipe up to their ankles in water.

"Now what?" Kento asked a bit impatiently.

"It's too dark in here. We need a light," Sage confessed as he looked around at the darkness surrounding them.

"Hold on. I've got a flashlight," Felina revealed as she pulled a large metal flashlight out of her pocket and turned it on.

"And I can shed a little more light on the subject," Kat added as she pressed another button on her helmet, causing the red triangle on her helmet to shoot out a beam of white light.

"Geez! Is there anything that helmet can't do?" Kento remarked.

"I don't know, Kento. I'll get back to you on that. Let's get going," Kat suggested.

"Lead the way, Kat," Ryo insisted.

"All right," Kat agreed as she, Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento, Rowen, and Felina headed down the dark sewer tunnel. They were unaware of the laser beam that they walked through, which activated a small security camera attached to the ceiling of the tunnel…

"Welcome to my parlor, Swat Kats!" Dark Kat announced with a sinister laugh as his Creeplings dragged Razor and T-Bone into his secret underground lair in the sewers, followed closely by Dr. Viper.

"Yeah, good to see your ugly puss again, Dark Crud!" T-Bone retorted loudly.

"Still as cocky as ever," Dark Kat remarked as he shook his head in disappointment. His yellow eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed that someone was missing. "Where's the third Swat Kat, Viper?"

"I'm not cccertain, Dark Kat. She wasssn't at the lab with thessse two," Dr. Viper explained.

"No matter. She'll surely come looking for her friends when she realizes they're missing, and when she does, that's when we'll capture her as well," Dark Kat pointed out.

"So, what do we have planned for thessse two Ssswat Katsss?" Dr. Viper asked with a sinister chuckle as his yellow eyes glowed menacingly. Before Dark Kat could answer, he was interrupted by a loud siren coming from a large control panel with a large television screen.

"What wasss that?" Dr. Viper asked suspiciously.

"Just my security alarm, Viper. There must be intruders nearby," Dark Kat explained as he approached the control panel and pressed a button.

Instantly, the siren turned off and the television screen turned itself on. Razor and T-Bone gasped slightly when they saw Kat running down a sewer tunnel, followed by Felina and the five humans they found in MegaKat Swamp yesterday.

"I guess your friend found out about your disappearance sooner than I've anticipated," Dark Kat muttered out loud. "She's with that meddlesome Enforcer, but what are those things?"

"Why should we tell you, Dark Creep?" Razor remarked.

"No matter. They'll never get in here alive. Viper, why don't you send out our little welcoming party?" Dark Kat ordered.

"Cccertainly, Dark Kat," Dr. Viper agreed as he headed off into another room.

"Chain them, my Creeplings," Dark Kat ordered the four Creeplings. The Creeplings growled in response as they chained Razor and T-Bone against a nearby wall.

"Now, just sit back and enjoy the show. I promise you that this will be very entertaining," Dark Kat muttered sinisterly as he laughed evilly…


	4. Ronins to the Rescue

SWAT KATS TO ARMS! (a.k.a. Ronin Warriors: The Radical Squadron)

Part Three: Ronins to the Rescue

"Which way now, Kat?" Felina asked. The two she-kats and the five Ronin Warriors had reached an intersection in the sewer system.

"I'm not sure," Kat muttered out loud as she pressed a button on her helmet, causing the visor to lower down over her eyes.

"Picking up anything?" Rowen asked curiously as Kat slowly scanned the three sewer tunnels in front of them.

"Nothing. Not a single footprint," Kat reluctantly admitted as she pressed the button on her helmet again, causing the visor to disappear into her helmet. "They must have stayed in the water. Looks like we're gonna have to split up in order to find Razor, T-Bone, Dr. Viper, and Dark Kat."

"All right, let's do this," Ryo announced as everyone started to walk towards the three sewer tunnels.

"Huh?" Sage gasped as he stopped in his tracks.

"Sage, what's up?" Cye asked as he, Kento, Ryo, Kat, and Felina stopped walking.

"I thought I heard something," Sage explained.

"What did you hear?" Kento asked curiously.

"Quiet," Sage whispered.

Everyone stayed quiet and listened carefully for whatever Sage heard. After a few seconds have passed, they could clearly hear a faint buzzing noise.

"Sounds like a swarm of bugs," Kat whispered.

"A really big swarm of bugs!" Ryo remarked.

"And it's coming closer," Sage whispered as the buzzing gradually grew louder.

"Sounds like it's coming from down there," Felina announced, pointing at the largest of the sewer tunnels in between the other two tunnels.

"Heads up, everyone!" Ryo shouted as thirty large bugs flew into the area where they were standing.

"Looks like we got a little bug problem on our hands!" Kat remarked loudly.

"I remember my uncle telling me about those jumbo-sized insects. Dr. Viper made those things when he first showed up in MegaKat City," Felina recalled.

"Anything we need to know about them, Lieutenant Feral?" Kat asked curiously.

"Yeah, the giant mosquitoes spit out a fluid that can paralyze you, and the wasps fire razor-sharp stingers," Felina explained.

"That's just great!" Kat muttered sarcastically. Suddenly, one of the mosquitoes flew towards Kat and Felina and shot a steady stream of purplish-orange colored liquid at them.

"Look out!" Felina shouted as she and Kat dove out of the way, barely avoiding the mosquito's paralyzing venom.

"Activating shield!" Kat announced as a large round shield protruded from her Glovatrix. She quickly ran over to Felina just as two large wasps fired their stingers at them. Kat quickly turned around and held up her Glovatrix so that the stingers ended up striking the shield instead of her and Felina.

"Whoa!" Cye gasped as he leapt out of the way of another mosquito's toxic venom.

"That does it! Time to squash some bugs!" Kento shouted as he grabbed two of the mosquitoes by their proboscises. The two mosquitoes let out startled squeaks as Kento threw them into the brick wall, squishing them instantly.

"Nice one, Kento!" Sage admitted as he punched one of the incoming wasps in the head, causing it to plummet into the sewer water.

"Watch it!" Ryo warned Rowen when two of the wasps fired their stingers at them.

Both Ronin Warriors quickly held up their arms to protect their faces. The stingers ended up embedding themselves into Ryo and Rowen's armor-coated arms. The two wasps flew in closer, but ended up being kicked into the brick wall by Ryo and Rowen.

"Eat brick, you ugly buggers!" Kento shouted as he and Cye picked up some old bricks and threw them at the remaining airborne bugs. Some of the bricks hit their intended targets, squashing three of the mosquitoes and two of the wasps.

"Nice job, guys! Keep it up!" Kat announced as she fired some Mini-Octopus Missiles from her Glovatrix at the remaining flying bugs, while Felina fired her weapon up at the bugs. They were unaware that a small security camera was recording their every move.

"You were right, Dark Kat! This is very entertaining!" T-Bone remarked sarcastically.

"Apparently, I've underestimated the strength of your strange new allies," Dark Kat muttered out loud as he studied the live footage of Dr. Viper's mutant insects being defeated by Kat, Felina, and the five strange creatures with the metal armor. He turned around and looked down at the group of thirty Creeplings that were in the room with him and the imprisoned Swat Kats.

"It's your turn now, my Creeplings! Destroy the other Swat Kat and that Enforcer, but bring those creatures back here to me!" Dark Kat ordered his small army of Creeplings. "Those armors they're wearing must give them their incredible strength. That could prove to be very useful to me." The Creeplings growled loudly in agreement as they headed for the exit.

"Forget about it, Dark Creep! Do you really think that they're just going to give you their armor without a fight?" Razor retorted loudly.

"Do not underestimate my new brood of Creeplings, Swat Kats! If they don't destroy them, my Creeplings will at least wear them down enough so I can capture them myself and find out how that armor of theirs work!" Dark Kat announced with a sinister laugh…

"That takes care of the last one!" Kat admitted as Kento squashed the remaining wasp with another brick.

"This has been quite a day," Cye muttered out loud.

"You said it, Cye," Ryo agreed as he and Rowen proceeded to pull the stingers out of their sub-armor.

"Since those overgrown bugs came from that tunnel, that's probably where we'll find Dark Kat, Dr. Viper, and the Swat Kats," Felina muttered thoughtfully as she cautiously walked up to the sewer tunnel that the swarm of bugs flew out of.

"Somehow, Dark Kat must have found out that we're down here looking for Razor and T-Bone," Kat admitted.

"Yeah, and I'll bet that's how he found out!" Rowen announced as he pointed to a tiny flashing red light above them. Kat and Felina looked up and saw that the flashing light was part of a small security camera.

"I don't believe this! Dark Crud saw us coming a mile away!" Kat complained loudly.

"Well, he won't see us anymore!" Kento announced as he fished out a brick from the sewer water that was used to squash the giant bugs and threw it with all of his might at the security camera, shattering it into little pieces.

"We better keep moving. Dark Kat might send more of those giant bugs after us," Ryo suggested.

"Or maybe even some of his Creeplings!" Kat reluctantly admitted. "I'll bet that Viper used the same formula that he stole from MegaKat Biochemical on his mutant bugs and on Dark Kat's Creeplings! That would explain how Razor and T-Bone got captured so easily by a bunch of Creeplings!"

"Then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Felina shouted.

"Guess we have no choice. Let's hurry before something else happens!" Kat announced as she, Felina, Ryo, Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen ran down the sewer tunnel.

"Sounds like you spoke too soon, Kat!" Sage remarked.

Kat could clearly hear some faint growling noises echoing off the walls of the sewer tunnel. "That definitely sounds like Creeplings to me!"

"Well, what are we doing standing around here for? We should get the jump on those Creeplings before they get us!" Kento announced.

"Kento's right. Who knows how many Creeplings Dark Kat sent after us? Our best chance would be the element of surprise," Rowen agreed.

"Keep quiet, everyone. Sounds like we're getting closer to the Creeplings," Kat whispered when she noticed that the growling noises were getting louder.

"It's coming from down there," Felina whispered as she pointed at a smaller sewer tunnel leading into the one they were in. Kat and Felina slowly crept up to the tunnel, following by Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen.

"Whoa! That's a lot of Creeplings!" Kat gasped loudly as she peered into the dark sewer tunnel. The Ronin Warriors, along with Felina, peered into the tunnel as well.

They could clearly see thirty pink creatures with small bat-like wings draping from their arms, with the inside of their wings being purple, small pink pointy ears, small beady black eyes, and sharp black teeth and claws.

"Man, those things are ugly!" Kento remarked sarcastically.

Suddenly, as though they heard Kento's rude comment, the thirty Creeplings simultaneously turned around and stared at Kat, Felina, Ryo, Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen with their beady black eyes.

"Way to go, Kento!" Sage muttered under his breath.

"They're heading right for us!" Felina shouted as the small army of Creeplings headed straight towards them, with ten of the pink-winged creatures taking to the air.

"Relax, ladies. We can handle this," Sage instructed.

"Okay…if you say so," Kat hesitantly replied as she and Felina took a few steps back.

"Rock and roll!" Kento shouted loudly as he ran ahead of his friends and tackled down three Creeplings in one shot.

As Ryo and Rowen charged towards the small army of Creeplings that were still on the ground, Cye and Sage jumped up high in the air and dropkicked the ten airborne Creeplings back to the ground.

"Wow! Those friends of yours are really strong, Kat," Felina confessed as Kento threw two Creeplings into the wall of the sewer tunnel with a loud metallic clang. "What do you suppose is making them so strong? Is it because they're human, or is it coming from those metal suits they're wearing?"

"Well, I was under the impression that not all humans wear those metal suits of armor, so it's probably their armor that makes them so strong," Kat explained.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Kento shouted, causing Kat and Felina to look up. They were a bit surprised to see twenty Creeplings scattered all over the floor of the sewer tunnel, all out like lights. The remaining ten Creeplings, realizing that they didn't stand a chance, had turned around and were retreating.

"Hurry, guys! This way!" Ryo shouted as he ran down the sewer tunnel after the ten Creeplings, followed by Sage, Cye, Kento, Rowen, Kat, and Felina. After a few minutes of sloshing through ankle-deep sewer water, they soon reached a pair of large heavy steel doors.

"So, should we knock?" Cye asked sarcastically.

"No need for that, Cye. With those welcoming parties sent after us, we already know that someone's here," Kat replied.

"Well, I think it's time to see who's home!" Kento announced as he approached the doors and pushed at them with all of his strength.

After some effort by Kento, the heavy steel doors slowly gave way with a loud moan. Once the doors were open all the way, Kat, Felina, Ryo, Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen found themselves in a large room with some connecting sewer tunnels on either side. On one side of the room were some high-tech surveillance equipment, a large television monitor, and a large control panel underneath it.

"Look, there they are!" Felina announced as she pointed at the other side of the room, where Razor and T-Bone were lying on the floor, both tied and gagged.

"Don't worry, you two. We'll have you out of here in a sec," Kat announced as she and Felina ran over to the two Swat Kats. As Felina worked on T-Bone's bindings, Kat started working on Razor.

"Mm-hmm! Mmm-hmm-hmm!" Razor's muffled voice mumbled loudly through the gag in his mouth as he shook his head.

"What was that, Razor?" Kat asked curiously as she removed the gag from Razor's mouth. Before Razor could say a word, a loud alarm went off, echoing throughout the room.

"I was trying to say, 'Get out, this is a trap,' " Razor finally revealed.

"A little too late for that, don't you think, buddy?" T-Bone remarked after spitting the gag out of his mouth.

"Come on! We gotta get out of here before…" Before Razor could finish, the steel doors suddenly slammed shut on its own. "Too late!" Razor reluctantly confessed as more steel doors slid down around the room, blocking off every possible exit.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Kento complained loudly as he pushed at the steel doors as hard as he could. No matter how much he struggled, the doors wouldn't even budge an inch.

"Save your strength, Kento. You can bet we're gonna need it!" Sage announced.

Just then, one of the doors in the very back of the room slid open and two figures stepped out before the door automatically closed behind them. A small army consisting of ten Creeplings, five giant mosquitoes, and five giant wasps joined the two kats. One of the two kats was a thin scrawny kat with an elongated head and a huge tail. His fur was light green with wide dark green stripes on his chest and wide, elongated tail, and his feet only had two toes and were obviously reptilian in nature. He also had three long thick locks of black hair on top of his head, a long black nose, and glowing yellow eyes. The skinny tomkat was only wearing a long white lab coat.

The other tomkat was well over double the size of the snake-like tomkat, in both height and girth. His fur was purple and his eyes were an eerie amber color. He was wearing a dark gray robe with two red patches and black buttons on the front, a black cloak and hood with red trim, a steel plate with a red kat skull and small chain attached to his left shoulder, and two gold rings on his massive right paw.

"I'm guessing these are the bad guys," Ryo muttered out loud.

"You'd win that bet!" T-Bone remarked.

"You five meddlesssome pessstsss have interfered with our plansss for the lassst time!" Dr. Viper hissed angrily, with his massive tail swishing back and forth as he spoke.

"You'll see what happens to anyone who dares to challenge Dark Kat and Dr. Viper! Get them!" Dark Kat ordered the small army of jumbo-sized insects and super-strong Creeplings. The twenty mutated creatures growled in agreement as they ran towards the five Ronin Warriors, the three Swat Kats, and Felina.

"Spread out!" T-Bone shouted as the group of nine quickly split up. Razor and T-Bone soon found themselves against a wall with three Creeplings on their tails.

"Mini-Cement Launchers!" Razor shouted as both he and T-Bone activated the mini-cement launchers on their Glovatrixes and fired multiple cement slugs at the incoming Creeplings, quickly turning all three of them into small cement statutes.

"Look out!" Kat shouted as she and Felina ducked down to avoid a couple of dive-bombing mosquitoes.

Felina lifted her head just enough to fire her weapon at the giant mosquitoes. She managed to hit one of the mosquitoes in the wings, causing it to plummet to the floor.

"Is it over?" Kat asked curiously as she and Felina slowly stood up.

"I'm afraid not, Kat! Look!" Felina announced as she pointed up at the remaining mosquito, who was quickly joined by the other three mosquitoes.

"Oh, that does it!" Kat remarked as she pressed a button on the side of the Glovatrix, causing two small plastic flaps to come out for the Glovatrix's crossbow configuration. She quickly removed a large thick arrow-shaped grenade from her utility belt and loaded it onto the newly configured Glovatrix.

"Lightning Grenade!" Kat shouted as she fired the arrow-shaped grenade up at the four airborne mosquitoes. The mosquitoes tried to fly away from the incoming grenade, but it quickly exploded in midair, destroying all four of them.

"Looks like that takes care of our little bug problem, Lieutenant Feral," Kat remarked as she pressed the button again, causing the crossbow attachments to retract back into the Glovatrix.

"Not entirely, Kat. Look!" Felina announced as she pointed at the other side of the room.

Kat looked over where Felina was pointing and could see the five giant wasps dive-bombing Sage and Rowen, while the seven remaining Creeplings were trying to tackle down Ryo, Cye, and Kento.

"Come on! We gotta help them!" Razor shouted as he and T-Bone ran past Kat and Felina. The two she-kats looked at each other and nodded as they followed the two Swat Kats.

"Deploy Mini Tar-pedoes!" T-Bone shouted as he and Razor simultaneously fired blobs of sticky black tar at the five wasps flying over Sage and Rowen's heads.

The wasps let out startled screeches as the sticky tar completely coated their heads. Now unable to see, the wasps quickly dropped down to the floor one by one, like flies.

"Thanks for the help," Sage admitted as Kat and Felina ran past them to help Ryo, Kento, and Cye.

"Someone get these Creeplings off my back!" Cye complained as he struggled to remove a pair of Creeplings that had latched themselves onto his back.

"Just hold still! I'll get him!" Felina announced as she aimed her weapon at the two Creeplings and fired.

The Creeplings, realizing that they were in danger, quickly jumped off of Cye's back and scurried away, with the bullet bouncing off of Cye's armor-coated back instead. Kat fired some Mini Bola Missiles at the remaining Creeplings, tying up three of them with the bolas released from the missiles.

"We'll take care of these two!" Ryo shouted as he and Kento each grabbed one of the two remaining Creeplings by their feet, swung them around, and threw them at Dark Kat and Dr. Viper, knocking them both down to the ground.

"Get off of me, you annoying little pessst!" Dr. Viper hissed as he tossed aside the Creepling that was on his lap, along with Dark Kat.

"NO! Those meddlesome Swat Kats and their new allies are ruining my plans to take over MegaKat City!" Dark Kat complained as he stood up and brushed the dirt off of his clothes.

"Don't you mean our plan, Dark Kat?" Dr. Viper asked suspiciously.

"Never mind that! I'm leaving!" Dark Kat announced as he took out a remote control from underneath his cloak and pressed a button, causing the back door to open just wide enough for him to slip through.

"I knew I never should have trusssted you again, Dark Kat!" Dr. Viper hissed angrily as he started to follow Dark Kat out of the room.

To his surprise, Dr. Viper felt a pair of arms grab him from behind. He turned his head around and saw that Kento was his captor.

"Where do you think you're going, snake puss?" Kento asked sarcastically.

"Fool! Out of my way!" Dr. Viper demanded as he managed to wriggle his way out of Kento's grasp. To Kento's surprise, Dr. Viper quickly spun around and swung his heavy tail at him, knocking him clear across the room.

"Kento, are you all right?" Cye asked curiously as he and Kat ran to check on Kento.

"Yeah…I think. Just got the wind knocked out of me," Kento replied as he got up on his own. They looked up just in time to see Dr. Viper's tail slip through the opening before the door completely sealed up. Kento growled angrily as he ran up to the door and punched the door as hard as he could.

"Cowards! Come back and face us!" Kento shouted angrily as his four human friends, the three Swat Kats, and Felina joined him.

"Crud! They got away!" T-Bone complained loudly. Just then, the large television monitor turned on, revealing Dark Kat's face.

"What do you want, you purple scumbag?" Kento demanded as he, Ryo, Sage, Cye, Rowen, Razor, T-Bone, Kat, and Felina approached the monitor.

"You may have won this time, Swat Kats, but mark my words, you haven't heard the last of me!" Dark Kat proclaimed. "In the meantime, I left you a little gift!" Dark Kat's deep laughter echoed throughout the room before the television monitor automatically turned off.

"Gift?" Rowen repeated suspiciously.

"Uh-oh! That's not good!" Razor announced. Suddenly, a timer appeared on the television monitor, counting down from thirty seconds.

"Kats alive! This place is wired to self-destruct!" Kat exclaimed loudly.

"We gotta get out of here and fast! There's not enough time to disarm the explosives!" Razor reluctantly admitted.

"But how? We're locked in!" Felina pointed out.

"Not for long! Come on, guys! We're busting out of here!" Ryo shouted as he ran to the large steel doors. Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen nodded in agreement as they followed Ryo to the steel doors.

"All right, on my count, everyone push," Ryo instructed as he placed his hands against one of the heavy steel doors, followed by Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen.

"Ready whenever you are, Ryo!" Cye announced.

"On three, guys. One…two…three…push!" Ryo shouted.

The five Ronin Warriors simultaneously pushed as hard as they could at the locked steel doors. Due to the intense pressure placed on them, the steel doors gave out a loud groan as they slightly gave way.

"Keep it up, guys! We're almost through!" Rowen muttered out loud through clenched teeth when he noticed that he and his four friends were making some progress.

"Please hurry! We don't have a lot of time left!" Kat shouted when she glanced at the timer and noticed that there were only fifteen seconds remaining until the bomb went off.

"Almost…there…" Sage groaned under his breath as the doors opened up a little bit more.

"YES!" Kat cheered loudly as the doors finally collapsed to the door with a loud crash, revealing the open sewer tunnel.

"Come on! Move your tails!" T-Bone shouted as the four karts and the five Ronin Warriors ran out of the room as fast as they could. Moments later, a loud explosion rang through the area, shaking the sewer tunnel down to its foundation

"Get down, everyone!" Razor shouted when he noticed that several old bricks, large hunks of concrete, and pieces of sewer pipe high above their heads were starting to break loose, due to the destructive force of the explosion.

Immediately, Razor, T-Bone, Kat, Felina, Ryo, Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen ducked down and covered their heads as several chunks of rubble rained down on top of them.

"Is everything all right?" Rowen asked when the debris finally stopped falling.

"I've been better!" Kento remarked as he and Cye stood up.

"We're okay, too, Rowen," Ryo announced as he and Sage also stood up and brushed the dirt off of their sub-armor.

"Wait a minute! Where are the Swat Kats?" Sage asked curiously as he looked around for the three kats that have been helping them out for the past couple of days.

"Lieutenant Feral's gone, too!" Cye realized when he saw no sign of Felina either.

"You don't think that…" Rowen slowly trailed off as he pointed at two large piles of old bricks, concrete chunks, and pieces of rusty old sewer pipe behind them, exactly where the three Swat Kats and Felina were once standing.

Without a moment's hesitation, the Ronin Warriors quickly ran over to the piles of debris and started digging through them as fast as they could.

After what felt like an eternity, Ryo soon came across a caramel brown paw with black claws and a black fingerless glove on. "Sage, I found Razor! Help me out!"

Sage and Ryo worked frantically to dig Razor out of the pile of debris. Once they got Razor's head unburied, to their surprise, the smaller Swat Kat took in a deep gasp of air.

"You all right, Razor?" Sage asked curiously.

"Yeah…I'll be fine," Razor replied in between gasps of air. "T-Bone…he's somewhere…next to me. What about…Kat and Lieutenant Feral? Are they all right?"

"We don't know yet," Ryo reluctantly admitted. "Kento, Cye, and Rowen are still trying to get them out. Right now, let's get you and T-Bone out of there." When Ryo and Sage reached Razor's shoulders, they found T-Bone's paw barely sticking out right next to his left shoulder.

"Sage, you work on digging out T-Bone, and I'll pull out Razor," Ryo instructed.

"You got it, Ryo," Sage agreed as he continued digging. Ryo grabbed Razor's free arm and managed to pull him free from the pile of tightly packed rubbish.

"Hey, what's going on over there, guys?" Ryo asked Cye, Kento, and Rowen, who were working on the other pile of debris, trying as best as they could to dig Felina and Kat out.

"Good news, Ryo. We just found Lieutenant Feral," Cye revealed as Rowen tried to pull Felina out while Kento dug her out some more.

"What about Kat? Any sign of her yet?" Razor asked a bit worriedly.

"I found her!" Kento announced as he came across Kat's arm after pushing aside a piece of broken sewer pipe. As both Cye and Kento worked frantically to dig out Kat, Rowen pulled Felina free from the pile of rubble.

"Thanks a lot for your help," Felina confessed as she sat down and took in a deep breath of air.

Just then, Razor heard something take in a deep gulp of air from behind him. Razor turned around and smiled a bit out of relief when he saw T-Bone being yanked out of the pile of rubbish by Ryo and Sage.

"Hey, how are you feeling, buddy?" Razor asked as T-Bone brushed the dirt off of his uniform.

"I've been worse!" T-Bone commented sarcastically as he coughed a little bit from the dust being kicked up from all the digging in the closed-off area. "What about Lieutenant Feral and Kat?"

"The lieutenant's already out and they're just digging out Kat right now," Razor explained.

The two Swat Kats looked over at the other side of the tunnel to see Cye and Kento's progress. They had freed Kat's head and both of her arms.

"Okay, Kento, on three," Cye instructed as he grabbed Kat's right arm. Kento nodded in agreement as he took Kat's left arm.

"One…two…three!"

Cye and Kento simultaneously pulled Kat out of the pile of debris, who was coughing violently.

"Kat, are you okay?" Razor asked out of concern.

"Yeah, I'm all right, Razor. I think I might have swallowed some dust or something, but other than that, I'm okay," Kat whispered a bit hoarsely as she continued coughing, while Cye gently patted her back to help her breathe easier.

"That was a really close call back there!" T-Bone openly confessed.

"Yeah, and we have you guys to thank for saving our tails," Razor added, referring to Ryo, Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen.

"Hey, no problem, man. You did a lot for us in the past couple days," Ryo admitted as the group of nine started trekking through the sewers.

"Now we just have to figure out a way to get back home," Cye thought out loud.

"Where exactly are you guys from, anyway?" Felina asked curiously. "Would you believe another planet?" Kento asked nonchalantly.

"After seeing what you guys can do, that doesn't surprise me at all!" Felina admitted.

"You know, I've been thinking. That portal that brought you here…it might have been triggered by some freak occurrence," Razor announced. "Was anything out of the ordinary going on in your world at the time the portal first appeared?"

"Well, we were heading up a bridge of light to fight an evil demon from another dimension," Rowen explained.

"That could have been what caused the portal to open. If this bridge of light is still open, then there's a good chance that the portal will open again," Razor theorized.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Kento asked out loud. "We gotta get back to that swamp!"

"Yeah, but first, we need to get back to Puma Dyne," T-Bone pointed out.

"I'm sure my uncle's already waiting there to give me an earful," Felina muttered out loud. "Then again, this isn't the first time I disobeyed my uncle."

"You're not going to tell anyone about them, are you?" Kat asked curiously, gesturing towards the Ronin Warriors.

"Even with all the crazy things that happen in MegaKat City, I don't think anyone would believe me if I did!" Felina remarked as the ladder leading up to Puma Dyne came into their sight…

"Are you sure you know where you're going, Kat?" T-Bone asked suspiciously as he, Razor, Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen followed Kat through MegaKat Swamp.

"Of course, I know where I'm going, T-Bone. Don't tell me you're doubting me!" Kat remarked as they entered a small cluster of trees deep in the swamp.

"Hey, I recognize this place! This is where we met Kat for the first time!" Sage confessed.

"Is this where that portal dumped you?" Razor asked curiously.

"Not exactly, Razor. It was over this pool of swamp water over there," Ryo explained as he pointed at a small clearing.

The group of eight walked through the narrow opening in between the trees, finding themselves standing on the bank of a large shallow pool of muddy swamp water.

"This is it. This is where the portal appeared," Cye admitted.

"Yeah, but is it ever going to reappear again?" Kento muttered out loud.

"It's got to, Kento. It's our only ticket home," Ryo replied.

"Hopefully, we can get back in time," Rowen mused thoughtfully. "We've been here for a couple of days now. That could have given Talpa ample time to take over our world."

"Even if that's the case, Rowen, we'll find a way to take down Talpa and his Evil Dynasty for good," Ryo proclaimed.

All of a sudden, there was an incredibly loud rumbling noise, like thunder, followed by a flash of light. Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen looked up and recognized the gaping dark blue-and-green hole that appeared above the pool of swamp water.

"That's it! There's our ride home!" Sage announced.

"But, are you sure it's the same one?" Kat asked curiously.

"We have no choice, Kat. We can't stay here," Rowen told Kat. "If it was you guys in our place, you'd want to return to MegaKat City as soon as possible, right?"

"Yeah, that's true," Razor muttered out loud.

"Hey, good luck with that Talpa creep! Hope you guys nail him good!" T-Bone admitted as he held out his paw to Kento.

"You bet we will!" Kento boasted as he willingly shook T-Bone's paw.

"And good luck to you three as well with protecting MegaKat City," Cye added. "You're doing a pretty good job of it so far."

"And thanks a lot for all of your help," Kat admitted.

"Hate to interrupt, but our window of opportunity is getting smaller," Ryo announced as he pointed up at the vortex, which was steadily growing smaller in size. "It's now or never!"

"Right!" Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen agreed simultaneously.

"You better stand back," Rowen warned the Swat Kats. "I doubt you wish to join us on our trip back to Earth."

"No way!" T-Bone remarked as he, Razor, and Kat took a few steps back.

"All right, guys! Let's kick it!" Ryo shouted.

The three Swat Kats watched as the five humans jumped high in the air towards the mysterious portal and got pulled into it, one by one. After Rowen made it through the portal, it quickly disappeared without a trace.

"Do you really think they stand a chance against Talpa, T-Bone?" Kat asked curiously.

"After seeing how they handled Dark Kat and Viper, I have no doubt in my mind that they'll recycle that tin can!" T-Bone admitted.

"You think we'll ever see them again?" Kat asked.

"Highly unlikely, Kat. But then again, with all the crazy things that happen in MegaKat City, you never know," Razor muttered thoughtfully. "Who knows? We might end up paying them a visit on Earth!"

"Now, that would be weird!" T-Bone confessed. "An entire planet full of those furless humans?"

"We would definitely stand out like sore paws!" Kat remarked.

"We might as well head back to the hangar. There's not much more we can do here," Razor pointed out as he, T-Bone, and Kat turned around and made their way through the swamp back to where they parked their vehicles…

"WHOA!" the five Ronin Warriors shouted as they spun around uncontrollably in the multi-colored tunnel.

"In case you guys forgot what we had for lunch, I think I'm about to remind you!" Kento mumbled a bit weakly as he quickly held a hand over his mouth.

"Just keep it down a while longer, Kento! I think we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!" Rowen announced as he pointed at a small spot of light in the distance, which was growing bigger as they moved closer to it. Within moments, the Ronin Warriors passed through the opening into a familiar tunnel of pale blue light.

"You guys! We're back where this whole thing started!" Ryo gasped loudly when he realized that he and the other Ronin Warriors were back inside of the bridge that the Ancient created for them.

"Yeah, and unfortunately, so are they!" Rowen announced as he pointed at the several Nether Spirits floating around the column of light, who were all glowing with an eerie pink light.

"Aww, man! Not again!" Kento complained loudly as the Nether Spirits once again struck the column of light with the concentrated pink energy.

"Ancient, help them once more," Mia prayed out loud. Suddenly, the tunnel of light mysteriously started to change colors, from red to yellow to green to orange to blue, continually repeating the same color pattern.

"What's this?" Ryo gasped out loud. "The light spectrum is changing!" Cye shouted.

"But how?" Sage asked.

"That! They're getting fried!" Rowen announced.

Suddenly, several beams of white light shot out from the bridge at the Nether Spirits, disintegrating all of them in the process. Down below, Mia and Yuli had to shield their eyes from the bright light coming from the tunnel. Once all of the Nether Spirits were finally destroyed, the bridge of light eventually returned to its original pale blue color.

"They're okay!" Yuli exclaimed.

"His spirit is still able to help them!" Mia realized.

"We're safe!" Cye shouted.

"Now maybe we can enjoy the in-flight movie!" Sage joked sarcastically.

"Hey, wise up! Anything can still happen!" Rowen reminded Sage as the five Ronin Warriors continued the journey to Talpa's castle…THE END…OR IS IT?

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In case any of you out there are curious, the proboscis, which is mentioned in the beginning of Part Three, is the needle-shaped mouthpart of a mosquito that it uses to pierce the skin and drink blood.


End file.
